Memories of a Final Adventure
by guyw1tn0nam3
Summary: Busy building Republic City, Aang sends Toph and Sokka to a former Fire Nation colony to investigate claims of a rebellion. It has been fifteen years, and the two finally meet again for the first time, both still trying to cope with loss and recuperation.
1. Through the Years

**A/N: **I've had some spare time in college, so I decided to write Tokka fanfiction. I was actually planning a sequel to Journeys of 3000 Miles, but I could never come up with anything satisfying enough to justify anything to continue it. I think I've, rightfully, come to the conclusion to just let the story be standalone. So here's something else.

I feel like the summary is generic and it's been done at least once before, but hopefully I can put a spin on it.

**Summary:** Busy building Republic City, Aang sends Toph and Sokka to a former Fire Nation colony to investigate claims of a rebellion. It has been fifteen years, and the two finally meet again for the first time, both still trying to cope with loss and recuperation.

**Disclaimer: **Avatar: The Last Airbender and all characters and other Avatar world details are © Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko, Viacom. No money was made from writing and publishing this fanfiction.

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><p><em>Two people meet again as near strangers, one of them searching for strength, the other searching for something lost.<em>

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><p><strong>1. <strong>Through the Years<strong>**

It was raining on that day, a slight drizzle that created millions of tiny ripples in the ocean around her. The boat she travelled in was small, with only a small canopy made of thin cloth to cover her. Next to her, a young boy held an umbrella between his thin neck and scrawny shoulders and an oar in his arms as he steered the boat towards the island in front of them.

She had outgrown her clothes in the decade after her last great adventure. She was taller now, the one present she gracefully accepted from her parents. In her pockets were two folded scrolls of paper, tucked away neatly in the pocket between her shirt and green robes. She would occasionally reach her hands to touch those scrolls, as if to make sure no one had taken them, and then smile to herself beneath her bamboo hat.

As they neared the shore, the boy put down the oar and hopped into the waters with a long string of rope. Tying one end to a notch at the front of the boat, the boy pulled the boat towards the shore, careful to avoiding the rocks and fish lying and swimming about the beach. When they had landed on the sandy shore, the boy put down his umbrella finally, and tied the rope to a stake that he had hammered into the ground.

"Sifu," said the boy. "We're here."

Toph finally raised her head and nodded without a word. She moved to the front of the boat, where her student handed her the umbrella as she stepped off. The sand was unfamiliar, and so was the surrounding landscape. It took Toph only a moment to realize that she had never been to Kyoshi Island before. In an instant, the world around her became more than just the cold feeling of wood against her bare feet. The surrounding mountains, a grand statue of a woman with fans, and a town at the center of the island all became clear to her.

"Thank you Fei," Toph took a deep breath. "Wait here. I won't be long."

"Is there something I should do before you return?" asked Fei eagerly.

Toph paused for a moment, and then smiled. "Hold your tiger stance until I come back then Fei. You won't do proper Metalbending without it, and you're still not at the level I want you at."

She walked away, listening to her student gulp nervously.

The rain intensified into a shower. Toph gripped her umbrella more tightly and walked carefully through the muddy path and up the hill towards the village she sensed when she had first arrived. As she scaled the hill, she noticed that there were fewer people walking the slope than she had realized, only the vibration of older couples and young children playing in the rain. A few glanced at her as she passed, as if it had become abnormal for visitors to come to Kyoshi Island.

"All roads lead to Republic City," Toph murmured. "No stops in between they say."

When she had reached the top of the cliff and the entrance to the town, Toph headed towards the house at the far end of the village. At the door was a very old man, his young auburn hair turned white and frail. Still, he smiled and drew out a set of keys, a symbol of town leadership.

"Excuse me," said Toph, interrupting the man as he placed the key in the door. "I'm looking for an old friend of mine. Do you mind telling me where to find someone named Sokka?"

The old man looked the stranger up and down and understood immediately. "He's at the foot of the mountain behind the village. It's quite a long walk so prepare yourself if there is heavier rain."

Toph bowed and turned quickly to leave.

"Wait," said the old man, who paused for a moment, as if to say something in the nicest way possible. "Do not be alarmed if he is different than how he used to be. Sokka has…changed."

"Don't worry," Toph smiled, and bowed once more. "I understand."

She then turned back towards the mountain at the back of the island and began to walk that long climb forward.

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><p>The cloudy sky rumbled, signaling a possible thunderstorm nearby. The wind hastened. The trees and their leaves rustled as the gusts began to pick up speed. After a minute, a flash lit up the sky and the roar of thunder crashed down on Kyoshi Island.<p>

Parents ushered their children back inside. Windows were shut and the village turned quiet, lit up by small lanterns hanging at the top of every household.

It was in this rain that Sokka walked, trekking down the mountain with a large barrel tied to his back. Inside was an assortment of fish that he had caught on the other side of the island. Those fish were the freshest and by far some of the best meals that Kyoshi Island had to offer. It had taken Sokka forever to learn to cook the fish, but times had changed, and Sokka was much more alone that he had originally intended.

As he reached the foot of the mountain, the outline of his wooden house came into view. It was a simple place, with only a single window and inside a bedroom, a desk, a table, and a stove. A garden half filled with flowers and half filled with only dirt lay in front of the house, and an array of stones lined themselves up to the front porch. On the porch, to the right side of the door was a rocking chair, exposed to the rain above.

Suki was sitting on the chair. She seemed near ethereal, a small aura of light around her and a book lying in her lap. She seemed unfazed by the rain and didn't even react to the loud boom of thunder above her. She merely sighed at Sokka, and Sokka smiled at her.

"Have you caught the unagi yet?" Suki giggled, her eyes staring blankly at the basket on Sokka's back. "Or have you given up like I told you."

"If Aang can do it, I can too," Sokka pouted, placing the basket on the front porch. He grabbed his fishing pole inside and hooked it to a knob on the front wall. "You just need to have some patience with these things. I'll come up with a good idea someday don't you worry."

"I'm not worried," Suki laughed again. Sokka frowned and opened the door to his home. "Maybe I should cook tonight Sokka? You've been doing it for a while recently."

"It's fine," Sokka called out from inside. He came back outside with a tall umbrella attached to a metal pole. He inserted the pole into a round hole next to Suki's chair and flung the umbrella open. Small raindrops peppered the canopy. "You should watch it when it rains."

"Your hands are bruised again," Suki whispered, noticing Sokka's hands as he was opening the umbrella. "What have you been doing?"

"Probably just an accident that I got while reeling in the latest batch of fish. It doesn't hurt so I probably didn't notice it when I first got it. I'm making mistakes all the time these days," Sokka explained, looking at the purple blotches on his hand curiously.

"Liar. You've been at the wooden dummy again haven't you?"

"Only for a little bit."

"And your hands are bruised like that?"

"It's training to keep myself in check," Sokka said with finality. "Just because the war's over doesn't mean I'm going to let myself go. A good fight or two with the dummy is good to keep myself from gaining any of this fish weight."

"You've been practicing with the fans haven't you?" Suki said, her voice concerned and admonishing. "Sokka there's no need to pressure yourself like this. You're being too hard on yourself for no reason. Let it rest. You don't need to fight anymore."

"What's wrong with a little exercise?"

"I don't see the point in practicing an art of ours that will end with your death."

Silence. Sokka stayed silent for a long time. He turned his back to Suki for a moment and listened. Raindrops continued to pat on the shoulders of the umbrella, dripping water onto the dirt in front of the porch. For a moment, the rain eased into a sprinkle before a thunder boomed and the rain resurged with the same strength as before.

"It won't die with me Suki," Sokka said after a long period of quietness, and began to turn towards Suki. "After all, you're here with me."

"Am I really?"

A flash of lightning and a boom of thunder shook the skies as Sokka turned towards the chair where Suki had just been sitting. It was empty. The chair itself was broken and in disrepair. A lone book sat on the dirty seat, its cover dusty with the occasional drip of water splashed on its leather surface.

It looked as if no one had sat in it for years.

In front of the house, a lone figure starred at Sokka. In her right hand was an umbrella and in the other was a roll of paper wrapped neatly with red ribbons and an Air Nomad necklace. It took Sokka many minutes to notice, and when he did, he could barely remember the faint memory of the jade color in her eyes, the headdress that tied her hair down, and the bare feet that shook the world.

Toph and Sokka stared at each other for a long time.

"I have some fish," Sokka pointed at the barrel before realizing that those were the first words he had said to her in over ten years. "I don't think I can eat it by myself. Maybe you can come inside and we can talk for a bit?"

"It's nice to see you too, Sokka."

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><p><strong>AN:** Please let me know what you think!


	2. An Empty Home

**A/N: **I'm glad I got some positive responses from the first chapter. I've been bogged down with finals, but now that I'm stuck on a plane for a few hours, I've had some time to write some more for this story. Here's chapter two. Tell me what you think!

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><p><strong>2. An Empty Home<strong>

"Here, have some tea."

There were three cups on the table. One was for Sokka, who was busy looking after the catfish that he was boiling in a pot. Another was for Toph, who was sitting calmly at her seat alone, her wet hands folded over the hot tea. The last one was for Fei, who Toph had brought in after she realized that this meeting was going to take a while. Fei stood muted in the corner of the room, listening.

"It's been a while hasn't it?" Sokka asked, his face focused on the fish. "How long has it been? Spirits, it must have been how many years now? Ten?"

"Fifteen," replied Toph. There was no emotion in her voice as she put her mouth to the cup and drank. It was surprisingly good tea.

"Gosh," Sokka opened the lid to his pot and took a whiff of the aroma rising from the boiling water. He nodded to himself. "That's a long time. And what have you been doing all this time?"

"Travelling," Toph sighed after a long sip of tea. It really was good tea.

"I heard you opened up a Metalbending school too," Sokka finally looked up, and turned his face to Fei and smiled. "Are you one of her students?"

"Yes," Toph answered for Fei. "I picked up kids where I went and taught them how to Earthbend. Most of them were orphans that were just troublemakers like me, but that's something a little discipline and bending training can solve. Once I thought they were ready for the next level, I taught them Metalbending too. Fei here's about to reach that stage."

Even the dark room couldn't hide Fei's embarrassed blush, and Sokka nodded encouragingly at him. "I see," Sokka chuckled. He picked up the pot and waved for Fei to join Toph at the table. "Keep at it, Fei. Toph's one of the best teachers I know. The catfish soup is ready. Let's eat."

It was uncomfortable, this conversation. As Sokka set the soup on the center of the table and drew three porcelain bowls from a nearby cabinet, Toph couldn't help but feel a certain strange feeling settle at the back of her mind. There was a feeling of delight and nostalgia mixed in with anxiety and caution. The Sokka she knew was fifteen years ago, and the person standing in front of her now seemed different. The footsteps that she had felt outside, the heavy melancholic steps of an aged and regretful man didn't match the joyous remarks coming from Sokka's mouth.

"So," Sokka said, allowing himself to sit. He brought out a ladle and poured soup into Toph's bowl before gesturing at Fei to take his share of soup. "What brings you here? I wouldn't have imagined that you would come here just to visit me."

"What makes you say that?" Toph asked, her lips curved in a frown. "What if I decided that I needed to check up on you to make sure you hadn't gotten crazy? Is it so hard to believe that your friend might want to visit you after not seeing you for so many years?"

"Sorry, sorry," Sokka waved his hands in defeat. "You're right. You must've had your own reasons and business to do. But did you really come here just to say hello and drink some catfish soup? If that's so, you're welcome any time. I gotta say, I don't get that many visitors these days."

"Aang wants to send us on a mission," Toph was straightforward and blunt with it. Sokka's words had hit home. She hadn't visited him all these years. They had met many times after the war ended at parties, reunions, and the occasional military escapade. But as the years drifted apart, so did Toph and Sokka, and their priorities were set elsewhere.

"I'm intrigued," Sokka stroked his beard and took a large spoonful of fish and chewed. "What kind of mission are we talking about here?"

"He says there are rumors of a rebellion growing in what used to be a Fire Nation colony," Toph explained, and pulled one of the two scrolls inside her robes and laid it out on the table. "The local government there asked for the Avatar's help, but Aang and Zuko are too busy building Republic City, so Aang's asked that we go instead."

"You'd think they give up all these rebellions after you and I crushed the big one in Ba Sing Se," Sokka mused, gnawing at the soft bones in his mouth. "Do you still remember?"

"How could I forget?" Toph allowed herself to think for a moment at the memory. It had been their last great adventure together before they went their separate ways. Sokka and Suki. Toph and her Earthbending. Together, they single handedly brought down an underground Fire Nation rebel group that had been terrorizing the city. It had been their crowning moment, but it was a memory tainted.

Toph didn't allow herself to reminisce for too long.

"But that was then Sokka," Toph resumed. "It looks serious this time around too. The reports are vague, and there's not much information. For some reason it really worries me."

"Never thought I'd hear that from you," Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"We also haven't seen each other in a while," Toph folded her arms.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only that hasn't seen you," Sokka pointed out, before a spoon hit him in the nose. "Alright, alright, so it's not as funny as it used to be. I get it."

"All the information that Aang wanted to send you is in there," Toph sighed. She stood up and pointed at the scroll on the table. "You don't need to go, but Aang said he'd be more comfortable if you were around me. He thinks I would just end up destroying everything."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"I didn't hear that Sokka. Would you mind saying that again?"

"Nope, nothing, don't even worry about it."

Both Sokka and Toph smiled. At least there was one thing that didn't change.

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><p>It was midnight. Fei was sleeping downstairs, having volunteered to take the cold hard floor while Toph stay in Sokka's room. Toph had complained at first that the whole room had an annoying smell that irked her, but finally agreed when Sokka told her that it was more comfortable than the bed in the attic.<p>

Sokka rolled over on the mattress, pondering what they had discussed during their meal together.

"She's different now," Sokka muttered. "She's been out there, doing great things still. Teaching people. Helping people. I guess that's just the difference between a normal guy like me and an amazing bender like her."

There was much to do after the war had ended. Reconstruction. Reunification. Sokka had participated often as a diplomat, a strategist, a soldier. But the usefulness of someone like him only went as far as the war did. It wasn't long after the war ended that Sokka, the strategist, the soldier, the diplomat, was no longer needed. It was all on Aang's shoulders now, and there was little for Sokka to do.

"Were you fine with that?" a voice came from the window at the end of the attic. When Sokka looked up, Suki stood against the window pane, smiling back at him. "Were you fine with having nothing else to do?"

"It wasn't a big deal," Sokka replied. "After all, I got to spend the rest of my time with you."

Sokka left his bed and walked towards Suki. He opened the window and allowed a steady cold breeze to flow through the room and stared up at the full moon. The rain had finally stopped, and the clouds had scattered into the distance.

"So, while the rest of the world was changing," Suki asked again. "You were content with just sitting around and doing nothing?"

"I did my part," Sokka replied tersely. "It may have hit me hard at first, but I realized it soon enough. I was just a normal guy swept up in a series of extraordinary events. I'm honored to have play a role in it all, and proud to say that I got to walk side by side with the Avatar. There's nothing much else that I can really say."

"So does that mean you aren't going to go with her?" Suki pressed her hand on Sokka's shoulder and gripped it firmly. "You've played your part haven't you? So does that mean you're going to stay on Kyoshi Island forever?"

"Do you want me to leave?" Sokka asked, surprised. "I can't do that. I can't leave you."

"I didn't say I wanted you to leave," Suki's voice was soft like a butterfly's wings. She leaned her head against Sokka for a moment and sighed. "But will you waste your life doing nothing? Practicing an art that belongs to no one alive? Living in a secluded place, doing the same things every day to no end? What happened to Sokka that loved adventure? To the Sokka before that day?"

"I don't mind living a secluded life," Sokka turned towads Suki and smiled. "If you're here with me."

"Sokka, you can't say something like that," Suki's eyes were brimming with tears as she shook her head. "Besides, what was the promise that you told me that day?"

"You already know what it is," Sokka bit his lip and refused to meet Suki's eyes. "You don't need me to say it."

"No, you need to," Suki placed her two hands now on Sokka's cheeks. "What was the promise?"

Sokka closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I told you that I would be-"

"Who are you talking to?" a different voice came from the other end of the attic. When Sokka turned, Toph was standing in her night gown, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "These walls are pretty thin. I could hear you downstairs. I thought maybe you and Fei were having a man to man talk and I wanted to join. But I could hear Fei's snoring downstairs."

"Nobody," Sokka answered quickly. "Just saying some things to myself."

"Sounded a lot more than that," Toph stretched her arms and turned to leave. "Well, I won't press you too hard. I've never seen you struggle with making decisions like this so often. You used to just make them on the spot. You can go back to talking to yourself now."

"Am I really that different from fifteen years ago?" Sokka laughed.

Toph was silent for a moment and took a long look at Sokka. She nodded her head.

"Yes," Toph's voice gave no inclination that she was joking. She started down the stairs. "Yes you are."

"I'll give you until tomorrow morning to make your decision," Toph called from downstairs. "I don't want to wait too long. There are people that need your help Sokka. I didn't know you would forget about something like that."

Sokka stopped laughing. Toph was right. He had forgotten about that.

He plopped his body onto the bed and thought some more.

"What good is a promise," Sokka whispered. "If there's no one to keep it for?"

Toph's footsteps were all that Sokka could hear as he drifted off to sleep. They were firm but delicate as always, Sokka realized. Before the veil of sleep completely fell over his eyes, Sokka wondered if perhaps he had suddenly found a new meaning in his promise.

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><p>Sokka didn't come downstairs the next morning. Toph didn't go upstairs to wake him.<p>

With nothing to do, Fei and Toph trained in the mountains for the better part of the day. Occasionally they would return to the house to see if Sokka had bothered to head downstairs, but only to discover that the Water Tribesman was still stuck in his room in the attic. Toph wanted to think that Sokka was busy thinking things through. She wanted to believe that Sokka had perhaps abandoned his quick and often rash decision making for a more mature approach.

But something kept telling Toph that Sokka had given up, and perhaps there was little that she could do to convince him otherwise.

So they practiced forms the entire day. They were difficult ones, and the drills they conducted even harder. Fei had never felt so challenged with this new battery of exercises that his sifu was making him do. It felt almost unnecessarily extreme. Earthbending while blindfolded was one thing, but trying to Earthbend while blindfolded, hands tied behind the back, and forced to fight on one leg seemed like something Fei would never do in a real fight.

Fei merely assumed that Toph was expressing her concern over Sokka this way. It was her way of showing that she was worried. Worried that she would have to travel alone to the Fire Nation colonies and face this problem alone. As much as Fei wanted to say that he would be by her side, he had a feeling that it would only be Sokka that could truly brush away Toph's anxiety.

Evening came and Sokka had still not come downstairs, but there were faint noises coming from upstairs. Fei was excited for a moment that perhaps Sokka had decided to join. He turned to Toph to see how she was reacting.

Toph didn't seem to care.

"Fei," Toph said as they came back from practice. "Let's go."

When they arrived at the beach, Toph immediately jumped into the boat and took a seat under the canopy. She took deep breaths and stared off into the distance, as if waiting for Fei to release the ropes that tied the boat to the shore and leave as quickly as possible. However, Fei took his time, hoping that Sokka would pull through for Toph.

Then, when Fei had unlatched the last bit of rope from the beach, he saw him. Sokka came dashing down the slopes of the island and made his way toward the boat. Toph couldn't see him, but his yells were enough to draw her attention. Fei saw Toph's mouth wide open in surprise and patted himself on the back for waiting so long.

"Hey!" Sokka shouted as he came closer. In his arms was a duffel bag, and at his side were two metal fans resembling the weapons Kyoshi warriors would use. "What is this? You're leaving without even saying farewell?"

Sokka's eyes were bloodshot. Fei couldn't tell if it was because Sokka had been crying or had just not gotten any sleep.

Toph got up from her seat and hopped out of the boat. She walked up to Sokka briskly and punched him on the shoulder as hard as she could. Sokka flinched instinctively and dropped his duffel bag to grip his shoulder.

"Took you long enough," Toph growled. "I was really starting to think you were just some imposter."

"Well," Sokka scratched his head. "I definitely haven't been myself lately, have I?"

Another punch, this time to the gut, was all that was needed for an answer.

"Think that punch is gonna be enough to scare me away?" Sokka grinned. "Don't think about taking all the glory for yourself."

"On the contrary," Toph rolled her eyes.

"There's no one else I would rather share it with than you."

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><p><strong>AN:** I think the main thing I'm trying to convey is the differences in Sokka and Toph's world views and their places in the world. Sokka, in my opinion, has always viewed himself as the normal guy, the one that got swept up in the journey that was Avatar the Last Airbender. Toph, on the other hand, felt like she had a role to play, a role that could only be played by her. I just had this idea of a Sokka after the war deciding to retire early and live a normal life while Toph continued to play that role that she had taken up for herself.

Anyway, read and review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	3. A City at War

**A/N: **I feel like this story is kind of a return to roots kind of piece. I've written a lot of stories in my four and a half years on FFN. A lot of them got deleted because I unwisely chose to do so. For some reason, I can't shake off this nostalgia that comes every time I find myself thinking about this story or when I'm writing it.

I also read The Promise. I was actually pretty disappointed in how they characterized Toph, but I guess at this point I'll have to take it. The comic _does_ kind of disrupt the credibility of the plot, but I guess a lot of people simply don't mind, and I'll be trying to resolve that in a few ways. So anyhow, here's the next chapter.

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><p><strong>3. A City at War<strong>

They were headed for Xuang Chang, a city sitting in the middle of a peninsula on the north western edge of the Earth Kingdom. When Sokka took a look at the city on his old map, he realized that not so far across a nearby river was the abbey that he, Katara, and Aang had fled to when Zuko had still been pursuing them. After replacing his old atlas for an updated navigational chart that Fei had been using to pilot their vessel, Sokka realized just how out of touch he had been from the rest of the world.

Entire cities that he had once known in his days as an ambassador were gone. In the place of a string of Fire Nation colonies was a large landmark. Republic City. Sokka had occasionally read about the construction there when the infrequent merchant would come and pass news to the local villagers on Kyoshi Island. The world was revolving around that city, a social experiment to see if people of all nations could come together to build a place for all. It was ironic to think that only a decade ago there were talks about keeping all four nations separate and autonomous.

The three of them had steered their boat north west until they reached the archipelagos off the main islands of the Fire Nation. There, they restocked their supplies before making the final trip northward towards Xuang Chang. Their trip, for the most part, was silent. Toph spent a good amount of time sleeping underneath the canopy while Fei and Sokka were forced to adjust the sails accordingly for the winds and row when the winds had died down. What should have been time spent planning resulted in small talk between Sokka and Fei and an easily seasick Toph trying to sleep it all away.

"It's for the sake of stealth," Fei had told Sokka when he had wondered aloud why Zuko hadn't offered them a full steam powered vessel. "If there is a rebellion, no one wants to see a large Fire Nation ship docking near their town."

As a result, their trip felt long, tedious, and hungry. The meat that they had prepared for Sokka ran out too quickly, and everyone resorted to eating beans for most of the trip. Toph would also occasionally grumble about not being able to walk the entire way there. "If you really wanted to walk," Sokka had asked one time. "Why didn't you just tell us to land? We could walk if you really want to."

"I'm not that selfish," Toph sighed and closed her eyes again. "We still need to get there as quickly as possible."

Sokka's only real conversations were with Fei. After restocking their supplies in the Fire Nation, Sokka found himself often talking with the young boy, who seemed to be around the age Sokka had been when the war ended. It was small talk for the most part, stories of the old days and the occasional story of the new. Their night shifts often overlapped when they couldn't sleep against the rocking wooden deck, and thus chose to wander in their dialogue instead of wandering in their dreams.

"So how did you guys take down that rebellion in Ba Sing Se?" Fei would ask, as the topic would come up many times. There was a particular sense of admiration in Fei's tone. "I've heard the stories ever since I was a kid, but Toph never told me any details when I asked her."

"That's kind of expected," Sokka shrugged while sipping a mug of cold water. "Even when she was travelling with us during the war, she never bragged much about her victories at Earth Rumble tournaments. I don't think she really likes talking about it much actually. She's more of a do person to me."

"But what happened?" Fei continued to press the question.

"Well," Sokka started. "The rebellion in Ba Sing Se was made up mostly of soldiers who had gone into hiding once the Order of the White Lotus recaptured the city. A lot of them posed as Earth Kingdom civilians or disguised themselves as Fire Nation refugees who wanted a living in Ba Sing Se rather than be deported back to the Fire Nation during the Harmony Restoration Movement."

"A lot of people just referred to the rebellion as the Quiet Coup," Sokka scratched his head, trying hard to remember some of the complicated details. "For a few years, Ba Sing Se was a paradise that flourished as the center of the world. Then, in almost a single month, the Fire Nation soldiers who had gone into hiding took up half of the city's government positions. Many of them were also head guards for the royal palace. There were even rumors that the Dai Li, who had been decommissioned by the Earth King, was behind a series of arrests that put a newly instated Grand Secretariat in jail."

"Toph and I, and a few other people," Sokka cleared his throat. "Had been stationed there for a while to help negotiate with the Earth King after the Fire Lord, Zuko, refused to allow some of the Fire Nation colonies to be dismantled."

"The city changed overnight," Sokka sighed, shaking his head. "People who we were working with. People who we thought were our friends. Many of them turned on us and took the Earth King and his palace hostage. Toph and I got out. A lot of people didn't."

"How did they do it?" Fei asked.

"It's not hard when you have the Dai Li on your side," Sokka explained. "In the aftermath of the rebellion, we discovered that the Dai Li had forged hundreds of fake names on the citizen rosters for the city. Many of the disguises were given special names, a lot of stolen gold, and were basically just ferried into their government positions."

"It was a well-crafted plan," Sokka admitted. "Except for a tiny little problem."

"Which was?" Fei inquired.

"Toph and I weren't supposed to escape," Sokka turned to look at the blind Earthbender. She was snoring softly, her body rolled up in soft cotton sheets.

"How did you guys manage to get out of there?"

Sokka didn't respond immediately. His hands fell to the metal fans hidden in his coat and rested there. It was a silence that lasted briefly. In a second, Sokka's torn expression turned back into a smile. "That's enough story time for tonight," Sokka yawned and chuckled, though it seemed half spirited. "Make sure you keep track of our direction Fei. I hope we're still travelling north when I wake up."

The Water Tribe warrior leaned against the edge of the boat, tossed a wool blanket over his body, and felt the rocking of the boat for once slowly pull him into a slumber.

These were the quiet days that Toph, Sokka, and Fei spent travelling towards Xuang Chang.

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><p>Their boat arrived in Xuang Chang near the end of summer. As they entered the harbor, the three of them found that their small craft was surrounded by large fishing vessels sitting a mile off from the shore. When they had gotten close enough to the docks, Fei hopped into the water and start pulling the boat towards the nearest mooring. In the distance, almost a mile further inland, the outlines of the former Fire Nation colony came into view.<p>

The city was perhaps one of the largest Fire Nation colonies built, and like many other former colonies, Xuang Chang was fenced off by a massive wall in the traditional style of Earth Kingdom villages. After having conversed with a few historians during their stop in the Fire Nation, Sokka learned that the city had been established, along with two other now abandoned colonies further along the peninsula, as a main port that directed Fire Navy ships safely into the Earth Kingdom during the war.

After the war, the city was reconfigured and divided into three main sections. There was the residential district that scattered itself around the northern part of the city, where homes and small inns could be found near the mountainside. The business district was located closer to the south, where traders and merchants had easy access to the sea. At the middle of the city, a large circular wall separated the two other regions. Inside were dozens of palace like structures that housed the city's government officials. In the center of the ring was a massive tower that stretched towards the sky and could easily be seen for miles.

A customs officer who had been patrolling the port met them at the dock and asked them for the docking fee. In response, Toph, who had now awoken, flashed a thin sheet of paper embedded with a flying boar toward the officer.

"How was the nap?" Sokka quipped while he helped Fei anchor the boat. "Seems like all you did the entire time we came here was nap and eat."

"What else was I supposed to do?" Toph sat up from her makeshift bed. She stretched, shook her messy hair, and spit a wad of saliva into the ocean. Sokka helped pull her off the boat and onto the dock. "Well, now that we're here, I presume that Sokka, the great strategist, has a plan for us to follow?"

It had been a long time since anyone had called Sokka a strategist. In fact, it had been years since Sokka was last called on to even make a plan. As the three of them left the docks and walked the dirt road that led to Xuang Chang, Sokka realized that in the three weeks he had spent meandering through his thoughts and telling stories with Fei, he had not given a single thought to making a plan.

"Actually," Sokka bit his lip and fumbled on his next words. "I was waiting for you to talk to me about your plans. I didn't know I was making all of them."

"Since when did I ever make plans?" Toph's eyes widened. She shook her head in disapproval. "Sokka, if there was one thing I thought you wouldn't forget, it was the fact that you're the ideas man and I'm the girl that follows along with whatever you want to do. Guess me sleeping in for a few weeks didn't really help you at all."

"That's what it was for?" Sokka slapped his forehead and groaned. "You could've told me that earlier. I definitely would've thought about some kind of plan by now. Way to be cryptic Toph."

"It's not my fault if you forgot that you've always been the one making plans," Toph sighed. "Whatever, let's just forget about it. I actually do have an idea on how we can start off. Sokka, do you still have that scroll that Aang gave us?"

"Yeah," Sokka pulled out the cold parchment and unraveled it. "Here."

"Aang told me that it would be a good idea to meet the person that sent the message in the first place," Toph pointed at the scroll. "I'm sure the sender is scrawled somewhere on the letter. See if you can find it. I think that's probably the best place for us to start."

"Let's see," Sokka scanned the bottom of the letter for a signature. "Oh! Here it is. The letter is sent from someone named Si Wang. Apparently he's the head of treasury here in Xuang Chang. It's funny. I would have thought someone from the ambassador's department would've sent a letter to us. Isn't that strange?"

"We'll just have to see," Toph replied.

They made their way towards the gigantic tower in the distance. It was evening, and the sun painted the tiles of the building a crimson red. The floors were marked by the structure's multi-inclined roofs, each of them decorated with ceramic figures of animals or spirits. The tower seemed to loom over them menacingly as they approached the gates of the city.

"Is anyone else scared by that thing?" Sokka asked once they were at the wall. The guards standing watch stopped them. "It feels like it's watching us."

"I'm sure you're just paranoid Sokka," Toph rolled her eyes and flashed her Bei Fong seal once more. "Let us through. We're on official Avatar business."

The guards stood aside and opened the gates for them, but there was a certain hesitancy that Sokka could almost feel from each of the guards. It was a threatening feeling, and Sokka felt uncomfortable, though he couldn't explain why. Suddenly, the metal fans in his pockets drew more weight, and Sokka felt his fingers just a little bit closer to his weapons of choice.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Fei whispered when they passed through the thick gate and towards the city.

"Oh stop," Toph snapped. "Now you're starting to act like Sokka too. If you guys are going to be acting like wimps when we haven't even fought anyone, then I sure won't be relying on you if we do run into any trouble. Now both of you just calm down."

The large earth gate closed behind them, and Toph, Sokka, and Fei arrived in the business district of the city. The sun began to set, and several merchants started cheerfully waving goodbyes. A few store owners began hanging signs on their store doors, and a number of restaurants began lighting their lanterns for a night of partying and heavy drinking. Children were still busy playing on the steps of stores with new toys that their parents had bought them, and their parents were busy calling their children to prepare heading for home.

Sokka had half expected a city burning, a mob of Fire Nation soldiers banging at the gates of the government offices, or even a loud maniac calling for an end to the Avatar and his blasted Republic City. This was quite different from what Sokka had envisioned.

"You would never think that a rebellion was starting in this place. The people here don't even look the type to start fights," Sokka stroked his beard, raising an eyebrow at a parent who chased after their child. "Are you sure we didn't take the wrong turn Fei?"

"You don't think something feels strange?" Toph looked at Sokka. "You've definitely lost your touch if you can't even suspect that much."

"No. You're right," Sokka shook his head, now remembering the strange uneasiness he felt around the guards at the gate. "Let's just keep moving. Si Wang should be in the government section of the city."

As they took the main road out of the district and towards the ring shaped wall ahead, all three of them saw exactly what they had seen when they had first arrived in the city. The city seemed at peace, the people even calmer. For a while, Sokka walked in awe at the tranquility. The chill from the evening breeze, the dimming of the horizon, and the flocks of seabirds flying above them. They all reminded Sokka of Kyoshi Island and a time when Sokka would care of nothing else but the woman of his dreams.

"Welcome!" a voice broke Sokka from his thoughts. The great tower was now directly in front of them, and Sokka realized that they had reached the center of the city. A man, old but strongly build, called out to them. He was dressed in the typical gold and red colors of Fire Nation nobles. His long white hair was tied in a topknot, and he grew a long beard that stretched to his throat. As they approached him, they could see the outlines of a stern expression etched in his face. "My name is Liang Mian, and I am governor of Xuang Chang. It is an honor having the Avatar's comrades in my city. This is my bodyguard, Bao Lu."

The bodyguard at the governor's side had a worn face covered in recently shaved hair, and his eyes were masked by a conical hat reminiscent of those worn by Dai Li agents. His hair was tied back in a ponytail and there was a noticeable red streak along the man's left cheek. He wore a coat, despite it being a hot summer, and a double edged straight sword bound in its leather sheath could be seen dangling from the man's waist. Perhaps it was his tall figure, or his silent stance, or the simple fact that his eyes were concealed, but Sokka couldn't help but feel intimidated.

Toph was quiet as always, and Sokka stopped inspecting the two men in front of him as he realized he was usually the one introducing everybody. "I'm Sokka of the Water Tribe. This is Toph Bei Fong, and this is her student Fei."

"We're here to see Si Wang about a message that he sent us," Sokka explained, holding the scroll up to show them. "Is there any way we can meet?"

"I'm very sorry," Liang Mian shook his head. "But Si Wang won't be able to see you."

"Oh," Sokka waved his hands and laughed. "It's okay. We can come back tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. Just let us when we can talk to him. This is really important."

"No," the governor replied. "I'm afraid Si Wang is no longer with us."

"He was assassinated three weeks ago."

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><p><strong>AN:** I'm a bit curious as to why the last chapter got no responses. Was it horribly bad? Did everyone think I was going the wrong way? Just let me know, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Introductions

**A/N:** Now that I've settled down a bit in college, here we go.

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><p><strong>4. Introductions<strong>

They were led inside the tower. Liang Mian signaled for Bao Lu to stay at the entrance to the building before calling Sokka, Toph, and Fei inside. When Sokka walked past the man, even though they were at the same height, there was a threatening aura that made Sokka feel as if Bao was towering over him menacingly.

The evening sun still peeked out over the skyline, casting an amber glow over anything it touched. Inside the building, the sun's light shined through the windows illuminated a spiraling structure whose walls were reinforced by red bricks and golden lining. The three of them found themselves standing in a circular room, its floor tiled with refined metals. Along the walls hung portraits of very wealthy looking men, presumably former governors and officials. Even Toph's widened as she felt the beauty that the architects had placed into the structure.

"Over here," Liang Mian beckoned the three of them towards a compartment at the back end of the first floor. When they stepped inside, the room gave a quick lurch before they felt themselves being pulled up by mechanical ropes hooked onto the platform. "The stairs can sometimes be a bit tiring."

"Impressive," Sokka stroked his recently shaved beard. "What is this contraption?"

"Our architects call it an elevator," replied Liang Mian, stroking the fine metal walls. "I believe it has cut down travel times in and out of the building by almost half. Very efficient machine. Everybody here loves it."

"That's enough of the chit chat Sokka," Toph cut Sokka's scientific queries off. "We came here to see Si Wang, governor. What happened?"

"It was terrible," the governor shook his head in sorrow. "Si Wang had been working on a plan for a renovated sewer system that would have replaced our old underwater tunnels. There was the slight issue that the reworking would require additional tunnels to be built around the city, but to me it sounded like a fine idea. That's when it happened."

"What happened?" Sokka asked.

"He was shot by an arrow in the back of the head," Liang Mian closed his eyes, as if to forget the whole thing. "In the middle of broad daylight too! When his assistant came in to refill his tea cup, he screamed when he saw his body lying on his desk, the arrow already in his skull."

The elevator stopped on what appeared to be the fourth floor. They entered another circular room with wooden sliding doors lining the walls. The ceiling, indicating the floor above them, was quite high, and Sokka estimated that he would need several more of himself if he wanted a chance at touching the top.

They walked to the other side of the room until they reached the door opposite the elevator. A golden plaque hung from the sliding door, the name _Si Wong_ ingrained on the sign. "I know you intended to come see Si Wong about the problems he had detailed in the letter, but I beg of you to perhaps solve this case first," Liang Mian spoke as he pulled open the door. "He was a dear friend of mine."

Si Wong's office was small and tidy. A few shelves lined the walls, books on management, accounting, and finance leaning side by side on the racks. In front of a window lined by beautiful red curtains was a large desk, filled with seemingly unfinished paperwork, a lamp, and a photo of the man himself with two other people standing beside him. The window behind the desk was shattered, and there were still glints of glass on the carpet.

Sitting at the desk was a man, dressed in a large black overcoat. His messily shaved face was pointing at the shelves as he leaned lazily against the comfy chair, his piercing glare turning to the newcomers in the room. In his mouth was a brown pipe, smoke coming from the tip. His elbow was on the desk, and in his hands was an arrow. A bow leaned against the broken window.

"Captain Han," Liang Mian scowled. "What did I tell you about smoking in the office? It creates a messy fume."

"The window's broken," the man's voice was dripping in sarcasm. His thumb pointed at the broken glass. "The fume's only going one way this time governor."

"What are you doing so late?" Liang Mian continued. "I told you that you didn't need to push yourself when you barely have any leads. I know you're the only one that wants this case solved more than I do, but it's almost evening. Why don't you go home or something? You know that Saya still makes dinners for you."

"You have yourself a nice cup of tea governor," Captain Han replied, waving his hand dismissively. "You don't need to worry about me. Now who are these newcomers that you've brought to a dead man's office? I recognize Toph Bei Fong, of course, but who are you two?"

"This is Sokka, former ambassador of the Water Tribe," Liang introduced, pointing at Sokka, who was too busy looking disappointed that someone had remembered Toph but not him. "And this is Toph's Earthbending student, Fei. Sokka, Toph, Fei. This is Captain Li Han of the Xuang Chang police force, and the brightest mind you will ever find in the city."

"Ah, Sokka," the captain finally turned his full body towards them and put a hand on his chin, twirling the arrow in his other hand. "The man who disappeared off the map after the disaster at Ba Sing Se. What a surprise that I should be one of the first to see him after all these years. You've changed."

Sokka narrowed his eyes and immediately took a dislike to him. His snarky tone, his arrogant demeanor, it all seemed like a nuisance that Sokka would be better off not dealing with. As if noticing Sokka's growing rage, Toph snuck a hand to Sokka's curling fist and shook it gently. _You're not angry at him_, Toph wanted to tell him, _you're mad at yourself aren't you?_

"Well," Liang smiled cautiously before stepping out of the room. "I'll leave you four to your case. I have to get Si Wang's assistant to finalize the budget for this year. Captain Han, be sure to not keep them all night long. I'm sure they still need a place to stay. Remember to tell me if you've found anything important."

The governor slid the door and headed back towards the elevator, leaving an awkward silence behind him.

"Don't get me wrong," Han blew a puff of smoke. "I'm a survivor too, and I have no intention of bringing up any more bad memories for you than it does for me. I'm merely surprised as to what you're doing here. You'd think the internal politics in Xuang Chang would keep everyone but the Avatar away."

"We were given a letter by Si Wang," Sokka held the letter he had shown Liang Mian. Toph noticed that there was no anger in his voice. "Claiming that there is a possibility of a rebellion in this city. Have you heard anything of the sort, captain?"

"Give me the letter," Han held out his hand. "I think there's more to that claim than meets the eye."

"What do you mean?" Sokka walked to the desk and passed the scroll to Han. "If someone says it's a rebellion, what more can you really say about it other than there's going to be a rebellion?"

"Si Wang and I were classmates ever since we were little kids," Han unwrapped the scroll and laid the parchment on the desk. He chewed on his pipe thoughtfully and pressed his fingers against the dark ink on the page. "I know him probably better than anyone else other than Saya, and there are things even she doesn't know about him. If he sends anyone a letter, there has to be something more to it."

"Saya?" Sokka asked.

"She's an innkeeper in the residential district of the city," Han narrowed his eyes at a few scribbled letters. "She used to be my wife. If you need a place, just go tell her that I sent you guys there. She'll probably offer up the place for a reduced price. Now look at this letter."

Sokka took a closer look as Fei and Toph came up behind him.

_I am sending this letter because something is happening. Please keep secret the very important information that I am about to give. Xuang Chang risks destruction by an catastrophic rebellion. The underground mobsters this time are unlike any you have faced. They are ruthless people, hiding here secretly in shadows. _

_They move quickly and will strike soon and make chaos. Nobody knows their motives. I think next they will definitely kill someone. _

_As Treasurer, I do not actually know exactly what or who they are after, but that is why I, no, Xuang Chang, cannot fight alone. Please tell Avatar Aang: send anyone here. I'm afraid they are already moving, are constantly scheming something, watching everything. As for me, there is little I can do. I will, in another letter, tell more. I hope when the spring ends, you and I will arrive at a solution._

"It just seems like a vague and ambiguous letter," Sokka shook his head, unable to draw any special meaning from it. He looked at Fei, who gave him the same confused remark. "I'm sorry captain, but I really don't see anything out of the ordinary with this letter."

"Take every fourth word out," the captain pointed at the characters on the page and Han handed the Water Tribesman a wet brush. "Tell me what you think about that."

Sokka turned back to the page, and began circling, lining up the characters together. After the words had been placed together, Sokka read over the sentences really quickly and splashed a few dots for grammatical purposes before taking a look at the hidden message. Sokka almost couldn't believe it.

_This is secret information about Chang. By the time you are here they will make their next kill. I know who but I cannot tell anyone. They are watching me. I will tell when you arrive._

"How did you know?" Sokka looked up from the parchment. Han sat still, his eyes narrowed deep in thought, his mouth furiously chomping down on his pipe. "How did you know to take every fourth word?"

"Si Wang was a fan of riddles and codes when we were younger," Han replied. "He was a brilliant guy, and he loved the treasury because he could fiddle and mess around with numbers. When we were both studying in Ba Sing Se University, he would often send cryptic messages to me and asked me to solve them. A lot of them were math related, and I hated them for the most part. But at least it built up my mind."

"The name _Si Wang_," Han continued, sprawling a few characters on the letter. "Has a number of different meanings, depending on how you write the characters and how you say it. It could mean dead king, four killed, and the list can go on. The word _Si _can be written either as death or as four, which is why some hospitals don't have a fourth floor. It's a bad omen, bad luck."

"The code is easy and simple. Just use his name," Han pulled out his pipe. "I would imagine that he must have known that he didn't have a lot of time to write before he would have had to send something."

"This leads us to the question then," Han looked at the broken glass, turning his back to the three standing behind him. "Who is Chang? Clearly my friend wasn't talking about the city. It could be something else, perhaps a group of people known as Chang. What was the information that Si Wang was going to divulge before he was murdered? Did the enemy know that Si Wang had access to this information, and if so, how did the letter come to us? More importantly, is the how. How did Si Wang know these things? If we figure out the how, it won't be hard to trace Si Wang's steps to the source."

"And most importantly," Han took the bow in his left arm and twirled the arrow in his right. He nocked the arrow to the bowstring. "The story concerning Si Wang's death is murky and poorly evidenced. The official story goes that Si Wang was sitting in his room and was shot in the back of the head by an arrow. But here's my question for you, Sokka, the so-called brains of Team Avatar."

Li Han let go of the bowstring, and sent the arrow flying into the window. The arrow glanced off the glass and fell to the floor with a quiet thud.

"If I can't break this mirror with an arrow shot at point blank range," Han tossed the bow on the floor and turned back towards the three of them. "How do you expect an assassin to fire from the wall over there one hundred yards away, blast through the window, and kill the head of the treasury?"

"You're suggesting that the killer was in the building during the time of the assassination," Sokka picked up the bow and inspected it himself. Even without experience in archery, the fine details on the bow indicated that it had been specially made. A good bow. "But how does that explain the arrow in the back of the skull? The broken window?"

"Is it so hard to conceal an arrow and stab someone with it?" Han asked. "And is it so hard to break glass with your own hand?"

"But even if you're right," Toph butt in for the first time since the conversation started. "Then how are we supposed to look around for the killer? With this many rooms, any one of these people could have been the killer. It would be too difficult trying to pinpoint the one who did it."

"True," Han agreed, nodding his head. "But this letter that you've brought me changes everything. When I first heard of the death, I thought it was just an act of terror. Kill a man with power, and show everyone that the threat of rebellion is real. Now that you've brought this letter, I've come to the conclusion that Si Wang was somehow deeply involved in the rebellion as well, and was killed for perhaps knowing too much."

"Si Wang was looking at quite a few things before he died," Sokka mused, trying to remember all he had learned of the man from the governor today. "He was working on a sewer project correct? Maybe we should start with the newspapers, see what was going on with that project."

"That sounds like a good idea," Han stood up, appearing fired up at the idea. "I actually hadn't thought of that."

"I need to get going," Han walked briskly towards the door, his thoughts racing around in his mind. He buttoned up his coat and began walking towards the elevator. "Feel free to stay for a bit and take a look around, but don't try to mess up anything. It's still a crime scene. Perhaps we can arrange another time to meet, but I'm in a little bit of a hurry."

As quickly as he had come, the police chief was gone, leaving the three of them standing.

"He seems like a pretty smart guy," Fei pointed out, taking a glance at the books on the shelves.

"Toph," Sokka frowned, taking a look at the silent Earthbender, who had undoubtedly been listening in the entire time. "What do you think of him? Do we trust him?"

"He wasn't lying, if that's what you're asking," Toph said. "I think as far as trust goes, the chief of the police staff and a close friend of the guy who died seems trustworthy enough. I don't think you really need to be asking me about this. You trust him don't you?"

"I guess," Sokka thought for a moment and shrugged. "He just left in kind of a rush that's all. But if you say so."

"I'm still a bit confused at the crime scene," Toph mentioned. "That's the only thing I don't agree with Han on. Something is just off about the entire thing."

"I feel the same way," Sokka stepped towards the window. "I just don't get how the killer could have gotten in and out of here without even being noticed by anyone."

"That's not it," Toph stood next to Sokka and pointed at the window. "Didn't Liang Mian say that Si Wang was killed in the middle of broad daylight?"

"Yeah, you're right," Sokka nodded, before raising an eyebrow. "What does Si Wang being killed in the middle of broad daylight have to do with windows being broken and someone stabbing him in the head with an arrow?"

"Well," Toph fanned her face a little with her hand. "If Si Wang was killed three weeks ago, then it was in the middle of summer right? Then wouldn't someone that was stuck in this room all day want to open up the window a little bit on a hot summer day?"

"And if that window was kept open, then wouldn't have it been impossible for someone to shoot an arrow through the window because the window would have already been open?" Toph asked, putting her fingers against the glass. "That's what so strange to me. The governor's story is off."

"Well, I mean that makes sense," Sokka scratched his head. "But even if that was true, what does that mean?"

"Maybe we should ask our friends that have been watching outside for quite some time," Toph raised her finger and pointed outside towards the outer wall that circled the government district. "They've been standing there for quite some time now."

There were four of them, all of them dark shadows in the fading sunlight. From this distance, Sokka couldn't even make out their faces, but they seemed to notice that he was now staring at them. They made no quick movements, but the forward most individual pointed at the front of the tower. When Sokka looked down, he noticed Li Han walking towards a carriage parked nearby.

"Si Wang already knew the next victim," Toph whispered. "But we realized it a little too late."

Li Han stepped aboard the carriage.

Sokka threw his head out of the large hole in the window and shouted a name.

In a flash of light, the carriage exploded in a magnificent arrangement of bright orange colors.

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><p><strong>AN:** Please tell me what you guys think!


	5. Night at the Inn

**A/N:** I have an announcement to make but I'll save it for the end of this chapter.

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><p><strong>5. Night at the Inn<strong>

There wasn't much left behind from the explosion, and the four figures that Sokka had seen on the wall had disappeared shortly after the blast. Even Toph couldn't feel their presence, which meant that they must have been long gone.

Broken pieces of charred wood were scattered around the blast site, a metal wheel creaking back and forth against the carriage's cracked frame. The body itself was completely unidentifiable, but the traces of a singed overcoat were enough for Toph and Sokka to give up on finding the former captain of the Xuang Chang police force.

When the guards rushed to the scene to inspect and catalog all the evidence, Toph and Sokka had already left, looking for Fei who was busy pulling himself together in the nearby restroom. The young Earthbender stumbled out of the wooden hut, hand perched on his stomach and legs wobbly.

"Are you okay?" Sokka said, as Fei wiped his mouth and refrained from smelling with his nose. The stench of burnt carcass still lingered in the government courtyard. Sokka gave Fei a strong shake to wake him out of any daze. "Everybody's first time is always hard buddy."

"Yeah," Fei nodded before taking a deep breath. "I think I'll be okay."

"It only gets worse from here," Toph put her hands on her hips, her eyes stern. She stared down Fei like a soldier, checking to see if anything was broken. From her voice, Sokka could tell that there was something she was dissatisfied with. "If you don't think you can handle it Fei, I can send you to Republic City to help in the construction. We'll resume our training when I'm finished here."

"Toph," Sokka turned to her quickly, his expression a concerned one. "There's no need to-"

"I'll be okay," Fei repeated, quickly standing straight and giving a swift bow. "I'm sorry for my shameful behavior Sifu! It won't happen again."

"I see," Toph murmured after a quick silence. "Then let's go. We have an innkeeper to break some bad news to."

Toph walked off, leaving Sokka and Fei standing in front of the men's room. There was a faint reluctance as she strolled away, as if she wanted to turn around and tell Fei that he had no other choice but to leave. To Sokka, her suggestion had come off as sudden, scared, and most of all un-Toph-like. Toph had never expressed worry at a student before, whether it was Aang or the students that trained at her school. There was something special in her tone when she was talking to Fei.

_Then again, I guess a city filled with assassins makes one worry_, Sokka thought, and he put his objections to rest.

After they reached the residential district, it didn't take long to find the directions to the inn that Han Li's wife, Saya, was running. The residential area was divided neatly into a grid, so everything was easy to find. There also weren't many inns to begin with, as Xuang Chang wasn't a bustling tourist attraction.

When they reached the inn, their first impression was of how small of an inn it actually was. It was only two stories, and it didn't seem like it had the width and height to house multiple guest rooms. In fact, Fei immediately said that the place looked like a regular house.

"Well," Sokka noted as they reached the lawn, where a stone path led them to the front porch. "Not everyone has the money to buy those big fancy hotels in Ba Sing Se. Some people make money just by renting out some of their rooms."

Standing at the porch were two town guards in uniform. A lady stood at the open door, her dark eyes staring up at the two guards who seemed to have trouble putting their thoughts in words for her. She looked fairly young, and she wore an apron over a brown tunic. Her short hair was hidden under a bandana. In her hand was a ladle that she swirled as the guards passed along their words. When they were finished, the lady heaved a sigh and waved them away. The guards took a look at each other, and then bowed before turning on their heels and leaving.

The lady then turned to Toph, Sokka, and Fei, noticing them as the guards passed the front lawn. "There aren't any rooms available at the moment," the lady called with a loud and clear voice. "If you're here looking for a place to stay, I'm sorry but you might want to try to find someone where else tonight."

Toph took a few steps forward. "Are you Li Saya?" she asked. "Li Han's wife?"

"That I am," Saya folded her arms, swinging the ladle back and forth. "If you're here to tell me that my ex-husband is dead, you're a little bit late. Those guards you just saw already delivered the message. Now if you don't mind, I'd really like to get back to cooking my own dinner."

"I'm sorry," Sokka stepped in, trying to defuse a potential confrontation. "My friend Toph Bei Fong here was just confirming something. We're really not here to tell you that. Saya, Han recommended you if we wanted a room to stay tonight. I know you've just lost someone important, but we really don't have anywhere else to-"

"Fine, fine," Saya interrupted him, closing her eyes and thrusting the ladle in her mouth and spinning it with her teeth. She sighed and put her hand to her forehead. For a moment, Sokka was convinced that Saya was about to burst in a fit of anger.

But to his and everyone else's surprise, Saya looked back at them with a smile and a slight chuckle and beckoned them towards her home.

"The man troubles me even after he dies," Saya shook her head in disbelief. "What a man to bring war heroes to my inn. Come on in, come on in. If Han says that I'll take you in, I guess I'll take you in. I'll have dinner ready in a little bit. We can have your rooming worked out afterwards"

When they stepped inside, the three of them found themselves standing in a hallway that divided the house in two. On the left of the door was a modestly sized living room with a fireplace and a couch for reading. To the right was the kitchen, a number of pots sitting on the stove already cooking. A dining table sat in the middle of the room, and two plates were already set on the table. At the back end of the hall were the restroom and a flight of stairs that must have led up to the rooms above.

"I have a few spare chairs," Saya noted as she brought a few wooden seats from the corner of the kitchen and brought it to the table. "Just have a seat for a moment. I was almost done, so the food should be ready any second now."

The three of them sat down as Saya rushed back and forth placing additional bowls and utensils on the table. Pulling the ladle from her mouth, she quickly stirred a pot of stew before carrying the pot to table and placing it on a wet towel. She did this several times, bringing back rice, an assortment of meats and vegetables, and soup.

"There," Saya wiped her sweaty brow and sat down at the front of the table. "Don't feel shy, just grab whatever you want. Help yourself, help yourself."

"Do you usually cook this much?" Sokka opened his eyes wide, before tentatively grabbing a spoon and lifting rice into his bowl. "This doesn't look like something that you and Han could eat by yourselves. Oh. Sorry for mentioning him."

"It's okay," Saya looked at her bowl and chewed thoughtfully on a ball of rice. "I cook a lot at night because Han usually skips out on breakfast and eats a small lunch. I usually would pack him a lunch for work in the morning, but he usually doesn't eat it, as I'm told by some of his coworkers."

"I thought you're divorced," Fei interjected. "Why are you still cooking for him?"

"We were separated, yes. It was me that called for it in the first place after all," Saya replied. "But the man would've starved to death if I hadn't cooked for him. He might not live here, but I would've been a terrible person if I didn't at least help him maintain a nice healthy diet."

"And now he's dead," Saya sighed, grabbing a lump of tofu in the soup and cramming it into her mouth. There was no sadness in her voice, replaced by hints of nostalgia. "Were you with him when…you know? When it happened?"

"He left ahead of us," Sokka answered, trying to be careful with his words. "By the time we realized what was going on, it was too late."

"I see," Saya looked at the ceiling, pondering. "He always tried to pry deeper into things that he wasn't supposed to. I told him after Si Wang died that it wasn't safe to keep pursuing these kinds of things. He never listened to me though, and if he had lived through this I doubt he would still listen to me."

"We're actually here to investigate Si Wang's death," Sokka pointed at himself, Toph, and Fei. "I know it's a hard time, but you seemed pretty close to the people who so far have been involved and are victims of these rebellion rumors that are going around. Any information could help save other people's lives that are at risk."

"I never knew much about what Han and Si were doing," Saya shrugged, her eyes still drifting around on the ceiling. "They kept a lot of secrets from me, those two. They would write code after code after code detailing their plans and schemes and I never figured any of them out."

"But I do know," Saya continued, looking back at them now. "That in the days leading up to Si Wang's murder, he talked to my ex-husband many more times than normal. I don't know what they were talking about in their meetings, but my husband must have known something, and they killed him for it, just like how they killed Si Wang."

"Your husband didn't seem like he knew anything," Sokka argued. "When he was investigating Si Wang's death, he didn't have any hard evidence or information about the crime, or the rebellion. He seemed to be just as in the dark as any of us."

"He is…crafty to say the least," Saya poured some soup for herself and gulped it down before her next sentence. "There was clearly a reason why whoever is behind all this killed Si Wang and Han. They knew something, perhaps about the rebellion, or something greater than that."

"Perhaps," Saya suggested. "He didn't want to divulge any information, in the off chance that there were listeners, and telling you would only put you in danger as well."

"Well, that did us a lot of good didn't it?" Toph raised her opinion for the first time that night. Sokka was surprised to realize that she hadn't spoken since her comment to Fei more than an hour ago. She stood up, bowl of rice half eaten, and walked towards the hallway. "I'm going to sleep. Is there a room I can use right away?"

"There's a room directly to the right at the top of the stairs," Saya pointed towards the steps, unaffected by Toph's blunt and sarcastic comment.. "Will you be okay finding it on your own?"

"Yeah," Toph muttered and turned towards the stairs. "Good night."

"Toph, wait," Sokka started. "Is everything o-"

"Good. Night," was all Toph would say as she started up the stairs.

Both Fei and Sokka gave each other confused looks while Saya munched on another ball of rice.

"Do you think I should talk to her?" Fei said, scratching his head. "I don't know if Sifu wants me here with her."

"Give her some time," Sokka folded his hands under his chin. "My experience with Toph tells me that she'll open up what's wrong with her if you let her calm down for a bit first. She seems to be in a bad mood, but I'm sure she'll tell us why later."

"Everyone has their own problems today huh?" Saya munched on her food, watching as the Blind Bandit disappeared up the stairs. "Do you know how you guys are going to plan your next move?"

"At the moment," Sokka admitted. "Not really. I haven't thought of any good ideas, and Toph has been the one directing us since we got here. I'm not exactly sure what we should be doing right now. If I got a good night's rest though, I think I can come up with something good."

"Great," Saya smiled, before picking up her empty bowl and bringing it towards the sink.

"Then get some rest tonight. I'd like to listen to your plan tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Toph immediately shut herself in the nearest room and flopped onto her bed to rest, but by the time she had heard Sokka and Fei finish washing and laying out their clothes in the room adjacent to hers, Toph had still not fallen asleep.<p>

There was something bugging her, and it had been more than just Sokka not acting normal and taking over things. It was a feeling of insecurity and even a feeling of inadequacy that worried her. Toph lied down on unfamiliar covers, arm over her eyes, the moonlight shining through the window.

"I can't have it happen again," Toph muttered quietly to herself. "It won't happen again."

There was a knock on her door. Toph's eyes opened. From her internal clock, Toph could tell that it had gotten very late. The softness of the knock confirmed that everyone else but Toph and the person knocking must have head to bed to sleep already. Toph put her feet on the floor. When she placed her feet on the ground, she felt Sokka pounding softly against the door.

Toph crawled out of bed, walked to the door, and leaned against it. The knocking stopped.

"You're not going to let me in?" Sokka quipped, noticing Toph was present.

"A woman knows better than to let a man into her room at night," Toph fired back, a small smirk on her lips.

"Are you okay?" Sokka was straight to the point. In a way, Toph loved that about him. In other ways, it reminded Toph of how much she wanted to avoid the issue for as long as possible. "You kind of just left dinner without giving us any good reason."

"Just," Toph fished around for the words. "A little tired."

"Then why haven't you fallen asleep yet?"

"Maybe you woke me up with your knocking," Toph folded her arms, though she knew that Sokka would see past it easily.

"Toph," the voice was barely a whisper. It sounded concerned, so much that Toph wanted to tell Sokka everything. Why she was worried, why she was frustrated, why she wanted some time alone. "You know you can let me know these things."

"I'm…okay," Toph decided that now wasn't the right time. "It's been a while since I've been so close to death. The last time was-"

"When we were in Ba Sing Se?" was the response. Sokka's words were filled with hints of pain and suffering.

"Yes," Toph nodded her head, her back leaned against the door. "The last time was in Ba Sing Se."

There was a silence then. It was an event that both of them remembered, but none of them wanted to. There were good times, yes, but the dark memories that haunted the two of them, Sokka most of all, lingered deep in those fun times. It was a line of dialogue that would always end poorly.

"Do you still think about her?" Toph knew that it wasn't the right time to ask the question, but she wanted to know. "I mean…about Su-"

"Yeah," Sokka sighed. Through the door, Toph could hear the unwinding of a metal fan. "I think about her a lot."

"There's always a possibility that she's still," Toph started. "You know…alive."

"Great way to change the subject Toph," came the response from the other side. Sokka must have grown agitated. "Look, I just wanted to know if there was anything wrong. I didn't want to talk about this. I'm going to get some rest. We can try to talk about this tomorrow."

Sokka rose on the other side of the door, walked to the opposite room, and shut the door quietly. The rest of the night grew silent, not even a bird or cricket making a sound. Toph bent her head down and drew her knees close and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Everyone seems to be having their problems today," Toph murmured.

Toph found her way to back to her bed, closed her eyes, and forced herself to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So I said I'd make an announcement, and here it is.

This is probably going to be the last Tokka fic that I will write. I think I've mostly run out of ideas after this fic, and I'd like to explore the Avatar universe beyond just the Toph/Sokka pairing. It's been a fun four years, but this will be my final work, the work that I think will surpass everything I've currently written.

I've been planning this for a while now, and the title of this fic was partially inspired by the fact that I was intending on not writing another Tokka after this.

Well, with that being said, enjoy! Please read and review. ^^


	6. Mysteries of the City

**A/N: **Here's the next chapter! It actually took me a very short time to write it, because I had been thinking about it so much that I had the general idea of the story down already. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>6. Mysteries of the City<strong>

Fei sat over the table, newspapers and pamphlets spread out in front of him. He diligently read through the stories, a wet brush in his hands. Stories considering Si Wang and assassination were quickly circled, and Fei scribbled side comments on the page to remind him of the details he had read in the passages.

The most recent papers concerned the assassination of Li Han, though the detail themselves were unclear and ambiguous. The police themselves seemed to be in total chaos, few of them able to explain what was going on. Most of the actual news had devolved into sob stories about how much Li Han had cared about the officers under his command. It was emotional, Fei found, but beyond that, there was very little information that he could extract.

"I've found them!" came Saya as she burst into the room, a large stack of old newspapers in her hands. "The inn keeps a record of old newspapers. It's something that we take care of for our residents. I'm sure there will be something in here."

Fei and Saya sat around the table, sorting out these newspapers according to their dates, cutting out stories, and highlighting information of relevance. They were silent as they did this, and Fei felt a strange loneliness that arose, even though there was someone sitting right across the table.

Perhaps it was because both Sokka and Toph had left earlier that morning.

"The plan is simple," Sokka had said after he gulfed down his breakfast. "I think if we want to cover ground the fastest, we should split up and search for clues. I'm going to head over to the government office again to inspect a few things. Toph, I think you should acquaint yourself with the city. Do some exploring. If you can get a trace of the four people who were at the wall yesterday, then that would be really helpful."

"Then I'm off then," Toph was out the door immediately after Sokka finished. "I'll see you later."

"W-wait!" Sokka had said, but Toph was already gone. Sokka shook his head and sighed. "I don't know what's her deal. I even tried to talk to her about it and she even got me angry."

Sokka turned to Fei. "We'll have to deal with that later. Right now it's the mission. Fei, I think you're a little new at this, and I don't want to send you off somewhere knowing that those four assassins are still floating around the city."

"Then what can I do to help?" Fei looked disappointed, having been forced to stay at the inn all day. "I want to help, and I would've rather gone with Sifu if I could have. But since she's gone…"

"We need information," Sokka explained. "That's what we're really after here. I think if you can fish around the papers that have been published in the city in the last few weeks, we might be able to draw some clues. Or at least give us a place to start investigating more closely."

"I have a stack of newspapers that I keep for the residents," Saya jumped into the conversation, having been listening while washing the dishes. "I can bring those out."

"Then that's that," Sokka stood from the table and turned towards the door. "I'll leave that to you then Fei. Can I count on you?"

"Yeah," Fei looked down, his fists clenched and his face a frown. "You can."

"I know you want to be out doing something," Sokka opened the door and stepped outside. "But based on how you reacted yesterday, I think it's best that you stay here for now."

They were both gone then, and Fei was left searching over the papers with Saya, who sat across him with a serious look on her face. Her usual bubbly smile was gone, replaced by the grim features that had taken over her face yesterday when the guards told her that her ex-husband had been killed. She breezed through the stories a lot faster than Fei did, hungry for knowledge and truth.

There were so many unanswered questions that Fei wanted to know. What was Li Han like? Who was this Si Wang really? Why would anybody be targeting these two, of all people, rather than the top heads of the state for a rebellion? They lingered in the back of his mind. None of the stories seemed to have been giving him answers.

"I'm going to take a short break," Saya stood up and stretched. "Do you want anything to drink? I'm pretty fond of my tea."

"Yes, please," Fei nodded his head.

"You should take a break too," Saya reached for the nearest cabinet. "It keeps the mind sharp and fresh. Li Han used to take breaks all the time when he was busy investigating cases. Of course, that ended when Si Wang died, but he was always one who understood the purpose of leisure."

"Were the two good friends?" Fei asked, putting his brush down.

"You could say that," Saya chuckled, picking up the hot water she had been boiling at the stove. "We went to the university together, and they fought in the Great War together. Si Wang was a field commander, and Li Han was the soldier that he always sent into the midst of danger."

Saya brought the tea to the table, and Fei took a sip. It was warm and had a nice aroma that tickled his nose.

"Where were you during the war?" Saya asked.

"I was born a little after the war ended," Fei replied, almost looking embarrassed. "I never got the opportunity to see it."

"Opportunity?" Saya asked, before laughing out loud. "Boy, if you had the opportunity to see the war you wouldn't be here today. Consider yourself lucky Fei, because your two partners that came with you. They aren't so much."

"But they're war heroes!" Fei argued.

"If war was all about heroics and flashy titles like The Blind Bandit," Saya waved her hand dismissively at Fei. "Then nobody would have hated it as much as they did. If you were born after the war ended, then you probably didn't deal with all the terrible things that happened with the Harmony Restoration Movement."

"I've only heard the details," Fei admitted. "I was born in a more rural Earth Kingdom town, so I never got much information about the outside world. I also was busy taking care of my mother at the time, so my time for friends were limited."

"And I assume you left because your mother didn't need to be taken care of anymore," Saya looked back at the ceiling. It appeared to be a habit of hers whenever she was saying something uncomfortable or profound. "Is that right?"

"Yeah," Fei nodded. "There really wasn't much responsibility to being the head of a household with only me in it. So when Sifu Toph came around when I was a little older, I took the opportunity to travel with her. I had very little Earthbending talent at the time, and my habits were terrible. She didn't go easy on me even though I was little."

"How long have you been travelling with her?" Saya asked curiously. She leaned forward.

"I've been learning for around five years now."

"That's a long time," Saya looked impressed, folding her arms and smiling. "And under the tutelage of Toph Bei Fong no less. I'd love to see your Earthbending in action one of these days. I'm sure that must be a sight to see."

"I'm not that good," Fei frowned, his anxiety and worries returning to him. "After all, Sokka won't even let me out of this inn. I don't think he trusts me very much."

"Oh stop being a baby," Saya scoffed, laughing as she did. "That's what all the eager students say before they jump out and get killed. I think you should stop with that attitude because it's kind of dangerous. Here, let me even tell you a story about it."

"But," Fei started. "I'm capable though. I've learned so much from Toph in the last five years. I can do it. I'm not one of tho-"

"No buts," Saya wagged a finger in his direction and grinned. "Story time."

"Once upon a time," Saya started. "Li Han had a student. Li Han was considered an expert in hand to hand to combat, well versed in the knife arts, and was one of the field's top assassins. That's partially why he was police chief. He knew all the tricks that an assassin could use. He had used them himself. Now, this is a story of one of his students that decided that she was more capable than she really was."

"During the Harmony Restoration Movement, there was a lot of tension," Saya recalled. "Fire Nation colonists who didn't want to get evicted off their land. Earth Kingdom officials who wanted to see nothing more than the Fire Nation off their lands. It was chaos, and the Earth King, pardon my insult, was an utter and complete idiot. I don't understand how anyone with a brain would have thought bringing King Kuei back to the throne was a good idea."

"Anyway," Saya shook off her political rhetoric and continued. "There was a rebellion, inside Ba Sing Se. The Earth Kingdom officials who controlled the legislature looked as though they were ready to formally declare that if Prince Zuko didn't deal with the settlement issue in the way they wanted, they would use military action to force the colonists out of the Earth Kingdom. Fire Nation colonists and people who manipulated them to their own ends both came to Ba Sing Se in disguise, hoping that they could disrupt the legislature and effectively allow the colonies to live in peace."

"What followed was a complete disaster," Saya said. "Li Han and a bunch of other soldiers guarding the city found themselves swallowed up in a massive uprising."

"I think I've heard this story from Sokka before," Fei recalled. "He told me about it on the way here."

"A lot of people were there that night when everything broke loose," Saya replied. "Li Han and his student were busy fending off rebels at the main gate when they were attacked by an unknown man. He was strong, very skilled. He definitely wasn't one of the Fire Nation colonists. Li Han told his student to back away from him, but his student refused. She said that if they worked together, they could take him down."

"She rushed in alone," Saya spoke, her voice a monotone, as if she was concentrating more on the memory than the storytelling. "Unaware that her master was not behind her."

"Well, long story short," Saya stood up to get another round of tea. "Li told me she almost died, but he protected her long enough for them to escape. So the lesson of the story is, trust your teachers. They probably know something that you don't."

"What did Li Han do afterwards?" Fei asked. "He must have been furious with his student."

"There are a lot of stories floating around about how it went about afterwards," Saya said, putting her hand to her chin, appearing deep in thought. "But if I remember the story correctly…"

"Hmm," Saya appeared to have trouble remembering, rubbing her forehead. She turned an eye towards Fei and smiled.

"Well, that's enough story time for now."

They went back to work.

* * *

><p>Sokka stood once again in Si Wang's office. The broken glass at the back of the room was still there, having gone unrepaired for investigative purposes. The bow that Li Han had been fiddling around with the day before was still perched next to the window. The desk itself appeared untouched. Si Wang's letter was still there, as Han must have left it on top of the desk to read through it another day. Behind Sokka was a slim young boy, an intern who Liang Mian had sent Sokka's way to assist him.<p>

It was mid-afternoon. Sokka had spent the first part of his morning travelling down to the morgue to get a good clean look at what remained of Li Han's remains and Si Wang's belongings. In the midst of a large fireball, there wasn't much that Sokka was expecting, and Sokka came out of the funeral parlor with more questions than answers.

When the police had searched through the rubble left behind, all they could collect was Li Han's overcoat and his burnt body. The body itself was useless, charred bits of bone and singed fleshing. It wasn't pleasant to look at.

He then had gone to inspect Si Wang's body, but the men at the morgue told him that Si Wang was no longer at the morgue.

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked. "Has he been buried?"

"No," said the head worker. "I'm saying his body was stolen two ago. Don't you even read the news?"

He had been turned away then, heading back to the government office to try to pull together his thoughts. Who would want to steal Si Wang's body? How did he even get out without knowing? Sokka suspected foul play involved, though he couldn't see any motive behind it. It confused him to no end, so he sat down in Si Wang's chair and pressed his fingers to his temple to think.

Si Wang's desk was filled with random slips of paper and footnotes. The letter that he had sent was underneath a few other documents that Han had pulled out right before he left, no doubt papers that he wanted to check the next day when he came to investigate further. Sokka decided that this was the best place to start, and began turning open the pages to read.

There were useless documents. Financial statements, a spreadsheet of a few seemingly random companies, cataloging their assets and liabilities, they were all here. Sokka himself wasn't too versed in the financial world, and he set these aside for now. He turned his attention to the next set of documents. These seemed more promising. Drafts of papers that Si Wang was submitting to the governor over the public works project he had been planning.

"A complete remake of the sewer system," Sokka recalled, turning from paper to paper. "Replacing the old irrigation system with a more intricate design that will bring cleaner water to the city."

There were also letters that he sent to the public works director of the city. Sokka poured his attention to those as well. From what Sokka could gather, the public works director was rejecting Si Wang's proposal, calling it unrealistic and much too expensive. What bothered Sokka though, was the name of the public works director.

"Dear Chang," the letter read. "I have some important information to relay to you concerning our financial solvency and my sewer system."

_Chang_, Sokka thought. _Isn't that who Si Wang was referring to in his letter?_

Was it mere coincidence? It did seem too convenient, and Sokka couldn't help but feel that perhaps the entire government of Xuang Chang was involved somehow in this rebellion business. Still, what Sokka couldn't shake off was the feeling that both Si Wang and Li Han had been so cryptic. The letters that Sokka read continued, and they were almost exclusively addressed to the public works director Chang, pleading for reconsideration of Si Wang's irrigation measures.

If Chang was the public works director, then why hadn't Han mentioned him the day before? Why had Han speculated so far when there was clearly an important person named Chang in the city?

"Iroh was confusing enough," Sokka muttered. "These two make Iroh look simple minded."

Sokka finally set aside the letters, confirming that they didn't offer any new insight. He tried taking the fourth letter of every letter that he found, but there were no more clues left to be found through the method. If there was some other way that Si Wang had been embedding messages into his letters, Sokka had neither the mind nor the expertise to try to find out what they were.

"What would a detective do in this situation," Sokka murmured loudly, turning his head to the boy. "I don't suppose you have an idea of what I should do."

The boy shook his head, an indication that he was only here to guide Sokka and show him around as needed. Sokka held back his tongue to throw a frustrated insult at the boy, and turned back to the papers. This time, he set aside the letters that Si Wang had written, and brought the financial statements back in front of him.

"Spirits, I hate numbers," Sokka made a gag face, then slapped his cheeks. "Alright, Sokka. Let's do this."

As it turned out, the statements were more than just a few companies, and there were nice clean records of Si Wang's own calculations for the government's budget. Sokka was amazed at the details that Si Wang had included. Unlike Ba Sing Se, where budgets were simple calculations of revenues and costs, Si Wang had broken down the calculations into smaller bits and pieces. Every transaction possible had been placed into subcategories, detailing exactly what the government had been doing, at what time the government had been doing them, and exactly how much money the government had been using.

"I can see why he liked numbers now," Sokka said. He motioned for the boy to come over. "Hey, what's your name?"

"My name is Shu," said the boy.

"Help me out Shu," Sokka handed me a few pieces of paper. "Can you calculate, based on these papers, how much money Si Wang thinks the government should have?"

As it turned out, after the math had been calculated, the government was rich. Flowing with gold coins, as the boy put it eloquently. The business sector was prospering, people had jobs, and the government had taxes flowing in from everywhere.

So what was Chang's deal with building a new irrigation system? Chang had said the city of Xuang Chang didn't need any more expensive programs, as if it implied the government was flat broke. But based on Si Wang's own statements, that seemed completely false.

"Now that you mention it," Sokka put a brush down as he circled a few more numbers on the sheets. "Liang Mian did mention having to reevaluate the budget for this year. Shu, do you think you can get me a copy?"

"Those usually aren't given out to the public," Shu shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not in my power to give you those documents. You'll probably have to ask the governor himself."

Sokka nodded understandingly, and told Shu that his services were no longer required. Sokka then head up the stairs towards the top of the tower, where Liang Mian's office was. He found the governor sitting at his desk, quietly reading a book. His blinds were closed, and the room was illuminated by a ring of lights that focused in on the desk that sat in the middle of a large circular room.

"Oh, Sokka," Liang Mian finally looked up from his readings and smiled. "How is the investigation coming? I'm afraid I don't have any new information to relay to you. Oh! I've placed my personal bodyguard, Bao Lu, as the head of the police force for now. I think he's a suitable replacement for Han. I'm willing to sacrifice my own protection for the police force, if that means keeping the people happy."

"I was just here to check out a few documents," Sokka explained. "I'd like to take a look at the budget for this year. I have a few questions I need answering."

"The budget won't be ready for a while, I apologize for that," the governor swiveled in this chair to face Sokka directly. "But if you have any questions regarding the budget, feel free to ask me. I've been overlooking the budget so I have a good idea of most of what's going on."

"Then tell me," Sokka narrowed his eyes. Something seemed strange, completely off, dangerous. There was a certain feeling in the air, an instinctual nature that Sokka had always been born with. "How are the government's finances going?"

Liang Mian looked back at him, his everlasting smile turned to a frown. He sighed and shook his head. To anyone else, Liang Mian would have appeared like a governor feeling the loss of his people and the danger that his city was facing.

But to Sokka, he looked quite different.

"I'm sorry to say this," the governor put a hand to his face and took a deep breath.

"But our city is flat out broke."

* * *

><p>It was evening, and Toph had been walking through the streets for almost the entire day. A good amount of time was spent in the market place, where she did nothing but drink tea that was offered to her by old men running restaurants and listen to the city around her. She was quite thankful that Sokka had sent her out to explore the city. For one, she wanted to take a good look of the city. It was a new place, and it felt refreshing to be here.<p>

And for another, she didn't want to stay around Sokka.

It was a mixture of guilt and avoidance. Guilt in that Toph had brought up an unpleasant memory from Sokka's dark past, and avoidance in that Toph simply felt distant from Sokka. They hadn't bantered ever since they got to the city. Toph had been expecting Sokka to wake her up during the sailing trip to the city. Instead, he had ignored her, thinking it would've been better to just let her sleep and rest.

It felt different, and Toph realized that it wasn't just that Sokka had changed. Toph had changed too, and the feelings behind her change made her uncomfortable, weak, and frustrated. After all, both Toph and Sokka had made little effort to see each other in the years following the incidents at Ba Sing Se, and Toph had to admit that it was more than just Sokka not wanting to see Toph.

She now realized that no matter how much she tried to pin the blame on Sokka, the truth was that she didn't want to see him either. There were memories for both of them, too terrible and too haunting to confront head on. Ironically, what they needed more than ever was each other to confront them, and they had avoided that all these years.

Lamps were lit. Night was arriving, and businesses were closing for the night to prepare for the next day. There wasn't much that Toph could hear that was of much use. A lot of banter concerning how poor the government was, how terrifying the recent assassinations have been. They were either things that Toph had heard before or were things of little relevance to the case.

As the sun dipped over the horizon and Toph felt its warmth leave her face, she entertained the possibility of just returning to the inn. She had eaten little since breakfast, and Saya's food wasn't half bad. There was little information that she was able to gather, and a good amount of her leisure time had been spent thinking about her conversation with Sokka the night before.

But it was at that point that Toph remembered that Si Wang had been working on a huge revamp of the underground sewer system. Toph pressed her foot firmly on the ground, and sure enough, there was a massive network of tunnels beneath her, an irrigation system that fed water to the city.

_Oh what the heck, _Toph thought. _I might as well give it a look._

Toph guided herself to the nearest sewage grate. She used her metalbending to open a decently sized hole. After ensuring that there was indeed a floor beneath her if she jumped, Toph hopped down the sewer hole and landed inside the tunnel. She could hear the sloshing of water next to her, the eerie squeaks of rats and urchins in the tunnel. A few nasty fumes surrounded Toph, and she covered her mouth and nose before inspecting her surroundings.

The tunnels were massive, and even with Toph's Earthbending there appeared to be no end to them. There were multiple levels to the sewers, where tunnels rose to the surface or fell deep into the depths. They crossed each other, forming multiple grids and cross sections. Water flowed through hundreds of pipes through the tunnels, leading in and out of the city. Filth flowed away, and relatively clean water flowed in.

Toph walked for almost thirty minutes, inspecting the entire tunnel, taking in any details that she could. There were certain portions of the tunnel that appeared newer than others, the smell from those areas fresher and less filled with the stench of rat carcass and filth. Toph merely assumed that there was bound to be construction going on in the tunnels, renovations in order to ensure that the aqueducts didn't grow old and fall apart.

But as Toph treaded deeper and deeper into the tunnels, something confused her.

Si Wang had been drafting a new sewage system that replaced the old outdated tunnels that the city had been using for years. Based on what Liang Mian had been saying, Toph had merely thought that it implied that there was no construction going on in the sewage system whatsoever.

However, if that was true, then why was it that the farther out that Toph was walking, the walls of the sewer appeared newer then the ones preceding it? Why were there tunnels that were completely devoid of any drainage and even blocked off the water. Was this the new sewer system that Si Wang was building? Or was it that this was already built in the first place without anyone knowing? And if it was a sewer system, then why did it appear to have no purpose in bringing water to the city?

What was stranger was that the tunnels themselves didn't even lead towards any water source. Most aqueducts in Ba Sing Se flowed towards Lake Laogai, a fresh source of water that was abundant and rich in minerals.

The tunnels in these chambers didn't even remotely flow towards the river at all. In fact, they moved the east, towards Republic City. There was no water flowing through these newer tunnels, no pipes that surrounded the halls as Toph walked. The sound of water slowly disappeared behind her, and Toph began walking in strange silence.

"That's weird," Toph said to herself, touching the walls of the tunnel. "So what we have here are a bunch of newly built tunnels, tunnels that apparently nobody seems to know about. What in Spirits is this?"

As much as she hated to admit it, she would need someone else to digest this information for her. There were way too many confusing mysteries in this tunnel that Toph didn't understand. She would have wanted to explore further, but she had a feeling that she had stumbled upon a gem that should be brought to Sokka's attention right away. Exploring where the cave led, and what was further inside, would have to come later.

Toph ran as fast as she could back towards the entrance where she came from.

"I have to tell Sokka about this," Toph told herself. "He can figure this all out."

But at the entrance to the tunnel, Toph realized that even the information she collected would have to wait.

Waiting at the tunnel were four people. They bore the same vibrations and feet that Toph had felt yesterday on the walls of the government complex. There was a woman, leaning against the wall of the tunnel, two men standing in the background, and their leader who stood calmly underneath the sewer grate that Toph had dropped down from.

"I'm assuming you're not here to help a rich lady out of a manhole," Toph narrowed her eyes, bending her knees slightly in preparation for a fight. "Who are you?"

"I'm afraid the real question is who are you?" said a voice, coming from the man in the middle. "And why is there an elephant rat in a cat gator's nest?"

The four of them dived towards Toph, and Toph braced herself for the first fight she's had in years.

The only thing she knew for sure, was that she wasn't ready.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** The action's heating up, and I wonder what's going to happen to our dear Toph? :)

Please read and review!


	7. She Returns in the Middle of the Night

**A/N: **Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy! Thanks to the people who have been reviewing. To those that are reading, I hope you guys are enjoying this story. My goal by the end is to have people who have been following this to review at least once, to have a chapter so good and so impactful that you guys are just compelled to say something.

It'd be nice to know if it's working so far.

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><p><strong>7. She Returns in the Middle of the Night<strong>

"We're flat broke."

Sokka, for some reason, was not surprised to hear those words. He already suspected something fishy was going on the city, and this only confirmed his suspicions. He didn't want to immediately accuse the governor of a city of treachery and rebellion, but there definitely was information that Governor Mian was not telling him.

The only question, Sokka had to ask, was why?

"It's funny you say that," Sokka pulled out some of the financial statements he had brought from Si Wang's office. "Because your treasury head stated three weeks ago that the government was not running into any money issues. What happened?"

"Those records are three weeks old I believe," Governor Mian smiled and walked closer to Sokka, who reluctantly passed the papers to the governor. "I understand your sudden shock Sokka, but don't draw too many conclusions just yet. Here, let me show you what happened."

Sokka was guided to Liang Mian's desk, which sat in the middle of the circular room. The walls were lined with paintings of presumably previous governors. The back of the room was devoid of a window. Instead, a metal contraption that Sokka had not seen before was hung from the wall. From a single glance, Sokka couldn't figure out exactly how the mechanism worked, but there appeared to a trigger mechanism attached to a long but narrow barrel.

"It's one of my prized possessions," Liang Mian eyed the machine as well. "Made by Firebenders. An interesting tool, I must say. Now, let me show you what happened after Si Wang made these records."

Liang Mian brought out a new set of statements. On here, were dates after Si Wang's death, and just from all of the red ink scrawled across the page, Sokka could tell that government lost money quickly.

"What were you spending this stuff on?" Sokka asked, looking back at the governor.

"A variety of things, Si Wang's funeral for one," the governor replied, his tone as calm as ever. "We also diverted a good amount of money to the public works director to ensure that Si Wang's new aqueduct plan was getting proper consideration and funding. It was one of his last remaining wishes, written in his will actually."

"Si Wang had a will?" Sokka's eyes flinched as he heard it. Would Si Wang encode another message on it?

"It was found on his body, and put back on his body after we read it," the governor said. "The will instructed us to do so. It's a shame that the body was stolen. Perhaps the thief wanted whatever cash Si Wang entrusted to those dear to him. The letter did nothing of the sort, however, so I'm glad that the thief will come out of this completely disappointed."

"This still is a lot of money though," Sokka narrowed his eyes at all the documents. Something just didn't feel right.

"Sokka, I understand, and you might even suspect me of some wrongdoing because of these contradictions," Liang Mian sighed. "I'm completely fine with that. I think if anything, I do appear rather suspicious, but I assure you that nothing will come out of investigating me."

"We'll forget about that for now," Sokka hastily changed the subject. "Do you know anything about the assassins who killed Li Han yesterday?"

"Unfortunately," Liang Mian shook his head. "I know just as little as you do, I'm afraid. The attackers themselves were said to be disguised in black outfits. They're adept at explosives as you already know, and they targeted Li Han, a well-respected member of government and the head of police no less. If you want to ask me for an opinion, I think you may say that the leaders of the rebellion have shown themselves."

"Why would they do that?" Sokka was reluctant to believe it. Toph Bei Fong, the world's most renown Earthbender was in town, and so was Sokka, a survivor of the legendary Ba Sing Se uprising. Why would they show themselves willingly if the two best people to shut down rebellions were right in front of them? "Doesn't seem like a good decision."

"Nobody said the rebels had a good strategist," Liang Mian suggested. "But perhaps it is to confirm that the threat of rebellion is real. No one really considered the rumor of a rebellion a serious threat. These deaths confirm that there is an uprising, that no one can be trusted. It comes at a pivotal time too."

Liang Mian rubbed his eyes tiredly, and Sokka noticed just how frail and tired the man appeared. There were dark round bags underneath his eye lids, his cheeks sullen, his posture slightly hunched. Just a few days ago, Sokka had seen a few traces of dark hair in the man's mane, but now there was nothing but a plain of white and gray. Times of distress must have been stressful for the governor. Sokka had to give him that at least.

"Is there anything going on in the city?" Sokka asked.

"There are a few events actually," Liang Mian drew up a calendar from his desk. "Republic City is holding a number of events to celebrate its completion. We're just a colony and we haven't been integrated into the city yet, but Earthbenders and constructionists have been building roads and infrastructure. It's almost about time that we get incorporated into Republic City as well."

"We've prepared a number of festivities to celebrate it," the governor allowed Sokka to look. "There's a music festival. We have a few beautiful maidens who have volunteered to play. That's part of our expenses actually. There are some very world class musicians coming to this event."

"We also have a bending tournament coming up," the governor continued, showing Sokka a flyer that he pulled from his drawer. "It's a new business that's booming in Republic City. A lot of us thought that we could celebrate by holding a bending tournament of our own."

"You think the rebellion will want to ruin these parties?" Sokka crossed his arms, looking at the two events.

"Not just ruin," the governor spoke in a quiet tone. "Government officials will be at these events, enjoying all the spectacles and fun activities. Don't you think it's a perfect time to just outright assassinate them?"

"Then just cancel the activities," Sokka suggested. "Wait till we've solved the problem."

"No, no, no," the governor shook his hands. "We've already paid so much and put too much effort into this to back down. I understand you are concerned about lives Sokka, but as governor I will not allow a band of pitiful rebels ruin what plans I have set forth for my people. We will celebrate the good times, and if the rebels decide to show themselves, we will strike them with everything we have."

"You will help us Sokka, won't you?"

Sokka only nodded.

He left after a few more words. There was nothing much else to say.

* * *

><p>Sokka walked out of Liang Mian's office, once again with more questions than answers. What were the contents of Si Wang's will? The governor sounded resolute, and Sokka was inclined to trust him, but was the governor telling Sokka the whole story? And what about the rebellion? What chaos would ensue because Li Han was no longer the head of his watchful police?<p>

The Water Tribe warrior contemplated all of these things as he descended the winding stairs down the tower, but there was no conclusion that he could draw. There were too few pieces in the puzzle, and Sokka could only hope that Toph, Fei, and Saya had collected something valuable during their day long research. If not, then another day had gone by, and the rebellion grew more dangerous with each passing day.

On his way out, Sokka spotted the governor's guard, Bao Lu, standing at the doorway. The man always appeared silent and resolute, and it was those kind of men that scared Sokka the most. His bamboo hat shielded him from the setting sun, his eyes staring up slightly at Sokka who was approaching. He gave the Water Tribesman a quick nod, before turning his attention back to the floor. There was no telling what the man seemed to be thinking, but Sokka felt like now wasn't the appropriate time to ask.

"Have a good day!" Sokka waved with a small smile, before walking off. Behind him, the bodyguard stared back at Sokka with an intrigued expression that vanished as quickly as it came. Sokka sighed off his nervousness and said to himself. "Well at least you got to talk with him this time."

There was a particular calm about the evening that Sokka seemed to like about Xuang Chang. The day was busy, filled with officials running in and out of the tower, businessmen lobbying for more government aid. There were always shouts coming from the market place, music that homeless people played for bystanders. The city spent its daylight exhausting every ounce of energy before a wave of quiet swept over the town before sundown. It was a nice feeling, and Sokka wished that tranquil times like these had stayed with him always.

He took a longer route back to Saya's inn, crossing through less known roads and streets, observing the city around him. He tossed a few spare coins at street musicians and bought a nice cool drink from a shop vendor. By no means was this an attempt by Sokka to collect his thoughts. It was merely a moment of calm before the storm. Something told Sokka that soon, he would not even be able to enjoy the evening peace in the city.

"It had been like this in Ba Sing Se too," Sokka murmured, looking up at the sky. The clouds were a deep hue of red. Of all things, it reminded Sokka of blood, and he hated that it was his first impression of an otherwise beautiful twilight. "It was like this before everything was different."

He had grown different too. Toph seemed to have noticed, and Sokka couldn't blame her. He felt like a shell himself, the old Sokka, filled with cheerfulness and determination, had been burned away it seemed. In its place was a man more timid, uncomfortably quiet, and lacking in direction. It was no wonder why Toph had suddenly stopped speaking to him the day before.

"I need to change," Sokka raised a clenched fist, promising himself.

When Sokka arrived at the inn, the sun had already set, the moon had shown itself, and only Fei and Saya sat the table. Hot food was steaming from the kitchen, and Saya called Sokka inside the house and told him to help himself. Sokka looked around the kitchen, but Toph was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Toph?" Sokka hung a coat on a hanger near the door and sat down to eat. "She hasn't come back yet?"

"I thought you might've found her on the way back," Fei looked up, looking a little concerned. "You didn't happen to see her?"

"I went down to the marketplace but she wasn't there," Sokka sat down and faced the two of them. "Well, considering her, she might have went around the neighborhood for a little walk. It's something she used to do when we were in Ba Sing Se together."

"Do you think we should look for her?" Saya asked, putting down a ladle and heading over to the window. She peered outside, her eyes narrowed as she stared into the distance. She shook her head. "She's been gone the longest out of all of you. Maybe she ran into trouble?"

"Those assassins are out there somewhere too," Fei nodded his head in agreement. "I think we should head out and search for a bit."

"Hold on, don't jump to conclusions Fei," Sokka held up a hand. "I think it'll be dangerous if we just split up and search around. We also don't know where she is. At the same time, I know Toph. If Toph had run into any trouble, she would've destroyed the entire city by now if she was being attacked. I think you should have a little more trust in your teacher."

"I'm worried," Fei shook his head, standing up. "I can't eat if I know Sifu Toph hasn't come back yet. I want to head out."

"Fei," Sokka grabbed ahold of the student's hand. "Don't worry about it. Trust me on this. Have you even seen Toph fight before?"

"No," Fei replied.

"I have. And it's something you can never explain in words," Sokka answered, a mixture of awe and reassurance in his tone. "There's nothing you have to worry about. Toph will come back. She's probably out thinking right now about something, and when she's like that, she doesn't want to be disturbed. You won't be able to find her Fei."

He looked reluctant, but Fei sat down, and Sokka breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted was Fei running around getting himself in potential trouble. Toph had already expressed discomfort at having her student stay in this dangerous place, and all Sokka could do for now was keep Fei from leaving.

That wasn't to say that Sokka wasn't worried himself. For all he knew, Toph wasn't wandering around and really was in danger. The thought horrified him, and like Fei he found that his appetite was slowly sapped from his body. He excused himself quickly, to the shock of Fei and Saya who were both convinced that Sokka was unworried about Toph.

The warrior headed upstairs to the room where he and Fei had slept in the night before. There was a balcony on the other side of the room that gave a clear view of Xuang Chang. When he arrived, he breathed in a fresh breath in the city's clean air. It was different from Ba Sing Se, where it smelled of ancient bricks and discomforting perfumes. It was different from the Fire Nation, where its smell ranged from its dirty polluted villages to its heavy industrial cities.

After Sokka had exhaled, he suddenly punched the wooden frames of the balcony baluster as hard as he could, a sudden rage overcoming him. The spot that he had hit was left with a recognizable dent, while Sokka's knuckles were red and slightly cracked. Sokka took another breath before punching the wooden pillars again.

"What am I doing," Sokka clenched his teeth as another wave of pain surged from his knuckles to his upper arm. "The me from fifteen years ago would always have gone after her. Why am I not doing anything?"

* * *

><p><em>He raced through the palace halls before reaching those dreaded stairs. He had to get to the walls, no matter what.<em>

* * *

><p>"Is everything okay?" a voice called from behind. Sokka looked and Fei joined him on the balcony. "I suddenly heard a bang and came running up here. What's going on?"<p>

"Nothing, nothing," Sokka rubbed his hands and placed his hands on the balcony. "Just a little reminiscence is all."

"You're worried about Toph too aren't you?" Fei was an observant one, Sokka had come to realize. Maybe it was something that he got from Toph, but something told Sokka that it was more of a natural gift than an acquired trait. "Why didn't you let me go look for her?"

"Personal reasons," Sokka closed his eyes. "And those personal reasons are probably Toph's. Not mine."

"And is there a reason why you won't go looking for her yourself then? If you're worried about her like I am, won't you go looking for her?" Fei asked. He was pressuring Sokka, and this time he had no intention of letting Sokka say "that's enough story time for now."

Sokka bit his lip, unable to form a response. He thought about lying to the boy, but immediately admonished himself for even putting the idea through his head. He turned back to Fei, and nodded his head. "Fei, there are a few things that you need to know about Toph and I. About why we've been apart for a while."

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><p><em>When he reached the walls, the roof was burning brightly, dead archers littering the battlements. She was nowhere in sight.<em>

* * *

><p>"Is this about Ba Sing Se?" Fei guessed at what Sokka was about to unfold.<p>

"Yes," Sokka nodded. "It's about Ba Sing Se."

* * *

><p><em>He called her name so many times, but she never answered.<em>

* * *

><p>"Last time we stopped at when Toph and I were ambushed by a bunch of bad guys right?" Sokka pondered for a moment on how to continue the story. "Well, Toph and I weren't the only ones that day. There was another one that I was always with. She was amazing, and I have her to thank for saving my life."<p>

"Her name was Suki," Sokka realized this was the first time he had said her name in a while.

"And on that day, she went missing."

* * *

><p><em>He found her on one of the lower ramparts of the palace. She was fending off multiple rebels with ease, holding the line for a number of wounded archers as they fled down the stairs.<em>

"_Suki!" he called out her name and jumped down to join her. _

"_What are you doing here?" she shouted. "Where's Toph? I told her to get you to safety. Look at your leg!" _

"_Forget about that," Sokka cut down a rebel who had gotten too close and swung his sword to block another attacker. "I'm here to get you out of here." _

"_I said I was fine," Suki protested, whipping another man off the walls with her fans. "Now you've put yourself in danger. We have to get you out of here as fast as possible." _

_An explosion screamed through the battlement and a large rock crashed into the wall. The wall buckled under the strength of the boulder and broke apart. Both Sokka and Suki tripped and fell as the wall shook and became unstable. Their enemies, noticing that the palace walls were falling, began to run down the ramparts and deeper into the imperial palace. _

_Another rock hit the wall, and this time, the fortification broke apart completely. The floor slanted as its columns broke apart, and Sokka and Suki began sliding towards the edge. Unable to stop their momentum, Sokka slammed his sword into wall floor and held on. Suki slid past him, unable to grab onto anything. It wasn't until Sokka extended his hand that both he and Suki hung on for dear life off the edge of the broken flaming wall. _

"_Now this look familiar," Sokka whispered, holding his hand on firmly to Suki's._

"_Sokka!" Suki called. "I'm way too heavy. At this rate, we're both going to fall, and with your leg in that condition, you won't survive the fall!" _

"_Don't worry Suki!" Sokka called after her. "Hang on! It'll be okay!" _

"_Sokka," Suki looked back at him. Her look was desperate. "Just trust me on this. Let go of me." _

"_What?" Sokka almost screamed. The mere thought of this was preposterous. "Are you joking?" _

"_No," Suki called back. "I'm not! I'll be fine. Just trust me on this." _

"_That's what every person says when they make a sacrifice for someone else," Sokka widened his eyes at Suki, who looked intently at Sokka, waiting for him to let go. Suki had already released the pressure in her hands. "Don't you dare let go on me Suki."_

"_Sokka," Suki repeated. "Trust me on this. We'll both get out of this one. The height isn't even that bad, and for a Kyoshi warrior like me, I can definitely handle it. If you hang on for too long we're both going to fall. Please, Sokka, you have to believe me!" _

"_No!" Sokka shook his head, his hands getting slippery on the sword hilt. "There has to be another way to do this." _

_Sokka faltered on the sword and he slid further and further towards the edge. Suki was indeed too heavy, and from the lack of shouts downstairs, Sokka was willing to believe that no one was close by to come to their rescue. Even Toph was nowhere sight, not that an injured Earthbender could really help all that much during this predicament. _

"_Sokka, I'm sorry," Suki threw her fans away and reached into her armor for a sword. "But if you don't trust me, you'll just have to watch." _

"_What are you doing?" Sokka's eyes widened even further as Suki pressed the sword to her arm. "No. Don't do it. Suki, you don't know what you're doing." _

"_Sokka," Suki smiled. "There's no need to say any last words. We're going to be fine, okay?" _

"_Don't. Do. It." Sokka punctuated each word clearly. "Someone will come. Just keep holding on." _

_Suki was quick and precise. The sword cut cleanly through her arm, and Suki fell from the walls. _

_Sokka screamed, and looked desperately to see if Suki had landed safely. But before he could, another boulder crashed into the wall, a flash of light was heard, and a rock bounced into Sokka's head, knocking him out completely. _

_He never got to see if Suki even landed._

* * *

><p>Fei was quiet when Sokka had finished. The tale itself was short, but Sokka had taken a long time to finish, pausing and breathing often to collect himself.<p>

"After that," Sokka squeezed his eyes shut, as if to rid himself of a painful image. "Toph and I managed to escape separately through the confusion. I was brought back by a soldier who was one of the last to escape off that wall. Toph had gotten out of her own accord. She wouldn't talk to me afterwards. She must have been angry that I had risked my life and still didn't come back with Suki."

"We regrouped and took the city back in miraculous form," Sokka stroked his left arm. "But we never found her. She was always listed as missing, and no matter where I searched for her, she never showed up anywhere. It was a real mystery, and I have no idea where she went afterwards."

"So she might be alive?" Fei tried to offer some hope.

"I wouldn't know," Sokka shook his head. "But after fifteen years, Suki has yet to return to Kyoshi Island. No one has seen her. She hasn't written a single letter. I wish she was still alive, but even I can't search for this long and still have as much hope as I used to."

"It changed me," Sokka laughed bitterly. "Now look at me. I'm too scared to even chase after my best friend because I'm scared it'll happen again."

"What will happen again?" Fei almost didn't want to ask.

"That I'll hesitate," Sokka answered. "That I won't have the power to save the people I care about."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door.

Sokka and Fei both heard it, and looked down below from the balcony. It was dark, but there was definitely the silhouette of a young lady at the door. Both of them looked at each other and sprinted down the stairs to greet their third companion.

The Water Tribesman reached the door first and he unlocked the hinges and pulled the door wide open.

"Toph!" Sokka shouted. "Where have you be-"

Toph fell through the doorway. Her face was bruised all over, blood covered her arms, legs, and stomach, her clothes were burned in multiple places.

Her face fell on Sokka's shoulder, and Toph Bei Fong immediately lost consciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So what happened? I wonder...


	8. First Priorities

**A/N: **Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys are enjoying this. ^^

* * *

><p><strong>8. First Priorities<strong>

The three of them waited quietly in the underground tunnel. The first, presumably the leader, was kneeling over the river coursing through the sewer. A few cat gators that passed by attempted to snap at his face, but a quick swipe with his knife left the creatures either without a tooth or a scarred nose. The second and third leaned quietly against the wall, their stone hands flexing and curling as they inspected their gear. Their faces were obscured by a pair of dark green cone shaped hats.

There was a sign of a battle here. Dark spots covered a good portion of the tunnel, the bricks in those places still burning and hot. Rocks and boulders were scattered haphazardly on the battlefield. A pair of swords was still stuck in the walls, a killing blow that could have only been dodged by a skilled and experienced fighter.

The fourth member of their team was missing, and the man standing over the water seemed to grow impatient. He furrowed his brow and looked at the gaping hole in the sewer. There was a tiny bit of moonlight beaming down from above. It was getting late, and the man didn't like staying in one place for long.

"She's late," whispered the man. "It shouldn't take that long to finish the job."

"We should go after her," the two men behind him spoke together. "She usually doesn't take this long."

"No," he replied, closing his eyes to think. "It's unnecessary. And after what we did to her, there's no way that the Blind Bandit can stay moving for long. I don't want to risk revealing ourselves to the enemy."

A few moments later, a dark shadow dropped back into the tunnels. The woman that appeared before them was dressed completely in black, her face covered by a mask that shielded everything but the space around her eyes. She peeled back the cloth and allowed her hair to fall to her shoulders. She shook her head a few times before doubling over in pain. It was then that the three of them noticed that their companion had a nasty knife wound in the stomach.

"I ran into…a bit of a problem," the woman bit her lip. "I…failed. She got away."

"This doesn't look good," they ran over to her, the leader grabbing her shoulders and putting her down. "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know, but whoever it was," she clenched her mouth at the pain. "The person fights like a monster."

"To do this to Sui," the twins behind gazed from over their leader's shoulder. They looked at each other and then back at their comrade. "So Toph Bei Fong got away?"

"I'm sorry," she groaned as the man above her ripped part of the material from her attire and wrapped it firmly around the wound and pressed on it. The man could feel the warm blood flowing out of the deep gash. "I've put us all in danger now haven't I?"

"We can worry about that later," the man pressed his hand to her forehead. It wasn't hot, but it was getting warm. He hoped that she hadn't gotten an infection from the wound. "For now, we're going to take care of you. Will you be ready for your performance at the festival?"

"You can count on it," she nodded, wiping her bloodied hands on her clothes. "I've already let you down once. I don't intend on doing it again."

"Now that the Blind Bandit has escaped though," the twins moved their lips in unison. "They'll probably know who we are now. The Water Tribe man and her student will surely come after us. Of course, the Blind Bandit will also heal in time. And now we know there is someone who can beat Sui in a fight."

"I wasn't beaten," the girl growled, before having to stop talking as the pain from her belly set her innards aflame. Still, she managed to look back at the twin men standing in front of her and growled. "If I was given a second chance, I could crush her easily."

"We can deal with them when the time comes," said the leader, wiping some sweat from his forehead. After confirming that the blood was no longer flowing out of the wound at a constant rate, he swung her arms over his neck and pulled her close to his body. He stood up.

"For now, let's retreat. We have to rethink our strategy."

* * *

><p>The first thing Sokka did was rush Toph upstairs.<p>

"Fei, get me some hot water, an ice pack if Saya has any, some cloth, some bandages, and alcohol if you can find it. Find Saya too," Sokka ordered, running upstairs with Toph hanging over his back. "Stay with me, Toph."

Sokka flung open the doors leading to Toph's room. A cool breeze washed over Sokka's face, the curtains at the far end of the room swinging with the night wind. Sokka ignored the feeling and hurried to the bed, where he set Toph down. Only then, did he get a clearer picture of her under the white moonlight.

Her face was covered with a number of cuts and bruises, an indicator that a fighter must have gotten uncomfortably close to Toph in hand to hand combat and clipped her with a knife and even a few punches. Her forearms were swollen, which must have meant that she had been uncharacteristically blocking blows instead of dealing them. Her hair smelled of smoke, and her clothes were singed around the edges.

There appeared to be no major injuries or deep wounds. There were a few minor burns here and there, but that was more of just being around fire, and not necessarily taking a blast to the face. A lot of the bruises, however, appeared to be more than just punches from someone. Some of them were huge splotches of blue, too large for any human hands.

And despite there not being any life threatening injuries, there were blood splotches seeping through the clothes covering Toph's right shoulder. There was a deep cut there, and her left leg also seemed to be peppered with sharp pieces of rocks that were embedded in her thighs.

"You must have had to take quite a beating," Sokka whispered, brushing Toph's hair out of her closed eyes. "Who in Spirits did this to you?"

"I can't find Saya! She must have went out," Fei rushed into the room with a bowl of warm water and a few cloths floating inside. He set it on a table and then rushed to his teacher's side. "How is she? Is she hurt? Any broken bones? Anything?"

"She's fine, surprisingly," Sokka reached in for a cloth, rinsed most of the water out of it, and padded Toph's face to clean off the blood. After he was done, he rolled up Toph's ripped sleeves and tapped the bruises that littered her forearm. "But if Saya's not here, then I don't think I can apply any medicine without even knowing where she puts it."

"Fine?" Fei almost shouted at the top of his lungs. "Look at her! She's-"

"Fei," Sokka cut in. "I know you're concerned, but Toph's a lot tougher than she looks. Don't overreact to any of this. This is usually the time where the student thinks that he wants to get revenge on whoever did this to his teacher. Toph's one of the most powerful fighters I know Fei, and if someone did this to her, then…"

Sokka didn't want to finish. He didn't want to fathom the possibility that there was a fighter in the city that had beaten Toph to this point. Deep down in his heart, he hoped that whoever Toph had fought had left the fight with more broken limbs and bloody wounds than the ones that Toph bore on her body.

"I…" Fei bit his lip, on the verge of saying something. Believing that he would regret it, Fei gulped down his words and nodded quietly. "I understand. What can I do to help Sokka?"

"Well, I asked you to find Saya because I wanted her to take care of Toph," Sokka scratched his head, looking at Toph's unconscious figure. "Because I'd rather not be the one responsible for patching her up in this condition. But I guess I have no choice."

"Fei," Sokka dipped his head low. "I'm going to have to ask you to take a step outside. Close the door on your way out."

When Toph's student had walked out, a confused look on his face, and closed the door behind him, Sokka took a deep breath. He swirled his hands slowly around the hot water beside him, and made sure that Fei had brought everything. He unscrewed the bottle cap to the bottle of alcohol and poured it in a small cup he found next to a candle. He pulled the roll of bandages and set it in his lap, and finally he dipped the cloth back into the hot water.

"I'm sorry, Toph," Sokka clapped his hands together in a pray for forgiveness. "Please don't kill me if you ever find out."

Sokka's first concern was the shoulder wound. Though the bleeding was slow, the risk of infection after not being cared for so long was quite high. Gradually, to avoid pressing her shirt into the wound, Sokka pulled Toph's upper garments over her shoulder, revealing the wound fully. It looked serious, and from what Sokka reasoned, the weapon used was most likely a small knife or scalpel. Whoever was fighting Toph must have used the weapon as a surprise attack and caught Toph off guard with it.

The rest of her skin was a mixture of her beautiful smooth skin and the cuts and bruises that were scattered across it. For the most part, Toph's chest was unharmed, but gauging from the small lines of red and bruises across her belly, Toph had taken quite a few blows to her midsection. Sokka moved a free hand over her stomach and grazed over the bruises.

The shoulder wound was already turning a multitude of colors, so Sokka needed to hurry to avoid the wound growing worse. He first grabbed the wet cloth and wiped off the remaining blood, and then he poured the alcohol onto another cloth. After the liquid had spread evenly over the fabric, Sokka wiped over the wound, careful not to allow any alcohol to drip too deeply into the wound.

Toph's breath quickened as the alcohol touched the bloody cut. Sokka noticed this and made sure to slow down and press down more softly on her porcelain skin. To do this, Sokka covered only his index finger with the cloth to maximize his precision. He leaned closer to Toph's chest, careful not to lean on anything that Toph wouldn't have wanted him to, and slowly traced circles around the wound. Sokka held his own breath the entire time he did this, fearing that a single inhale could cause him to lose his focus.

He used his other hand to begin unrolling the bandages on his lap. After he felt like he had wiped the wound down sufficiently, Sokka pulled Toph up and began wrapping the bandages around her shoulder.

"You know, this might not be the right time to say it," Sokka murmured as he pulled the two sides of the bandages together in a firm knot. "But you have some very smooth skin. I hope once you get better, you make the people who did this to you pay."

Sokka now looked toward her face, where blood trickled at a decent pace down her right temple. A lot of dirt and rocks were littered on that side of Toph's face. Sokka hypothesized that this was because during the course of her fight, Toph must have been flung quite forcefully into a pile of rocks, where the impact scraped and cut into area near her right ear.

The Water Tribesman dipped the cloth into the hot water again to rinse out the blood. The bowl turned a slight pink. Turning Toph a little on her side, Sokka scrubbed away at the dirt, blood, and gravel. When Toph's hair got in the way, Sokka pulled Toph's hair behind her so both of her ears were exposed. When the last speck of dirt was gone, Sokka ripped out another roll of bandages and wrapped it around the wound and Toph's forehead.

Sokka moved downwards towards Toph's stomach. After a quick look, Sokka decided that he didn't need to use any bandages here as the majority of the wounds here were punches rather than injuries that would result in a bad infection. Most of the cuts were minor and had already developed scabs. After a moment's pause, Sokka turned to Toph's thigh, where shrapnel and sharp pieces of earth were stuck inside. Sokka winced at the area, noting just how many small particles were embedded inside her skin.

The warrior realized very quickly that just taking off Toph's pants would scramble the shards inside Toph's leg around and cause more damage and injuries. There was also no way for Sokka to extract the pieces because he couldn't see them very well with Toph's clothes on. After a moment's thought, Sokka reached for the small scabbard next to his waist and unsheathed a sword.

* * *

><p><em>She pressed the sword on her arm, and in an instant, cleaved it with a nice clean slice.<em>

* * *

><p>Sokka threw away the image in his head and focused.<p>

Slowly, he cut around the area where the sharp spikes littered Toph's skin. The sword itself wasn't very thick and large, but with such a small space, Sokka risked further injuring Toph with another cut to her leg. Luckily though, Sokka managed to cut a nice ring around the area. He then used that ring and ripped off the entire portion of Toph's pants that was covering the wound. Under the moonlight and without Toph's dark red clothing to hide them, the small shards were clearly visible.

One by one, Sokka used his hands and slowly pried the pieces out of Toph's body. Each time he did this, a small gasp was uttered from Toph. He dumped the pieces into the same bowl of hot water next to him. Each of the pieces that came out left a small hole and blood soon oozed freely out of them, covering Toph's left thigh in tiny pools of deep crimson. When Sokka was finally done, he quickly dipped the cloth back into the hot water and wiped away at the blood and covered the wound in the alcohol again.

Sokka unrolled the last of the bandages and wrapped the area twice to ensure that no blood would be seeping through. He closed off the bandages in a tight and firm knot, pressing down slightly when he was done to place some pressure on the wounds.

"That should do it for now," Sokka sighed as he finished. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and gazed down at Toph. She now slept peacefully on the bed, her shoulder, forehead, and thigh patched up with bandages. Sokka then realized that the wind was still blowing a cold breeze into the room, so he head over to the window and shut the glass panes.

He returned to Toph's side and knelt next to her bed. He pulled a few of the blankets over her body to keep her warm.

Sokka sighed again and leaned down on the bed for a quick rest.

Little did he know, that exhaustion quickly overcame him, and Sokka fell to sleep as well.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Toph awoke when the sun began to peek through the curtains and warm Toph's face.<p>

Her eyes fluttered open, and immediately she felt a stinging pain in her shoulder and a headache wash over her. She quickly reached a hand to her head, only to find some cloth wrapped around the wound. The same could be said for when Toph reached for her shoulder wound and the wound on her leg.

Memories of the night before flashed back to Toph. The tunnel, the people awaiting for her at the exit, and of course the fight that ensued afterwards. There were a few things that were fuzzy afterwards, but from the numerous pains that Toph felt throughout her body, she assumed that the fight had not gone in the way that she would have hoped.

After thoroughly moving her hands across the bandages, only then did Toph realize that there was someone sleeping with a mild snore next to her.

Toph moved her hand to greet the sleeping person, brushed her hand over his wolf tail, his sticky brow that must have been a product of the sweat from the night before, the familiar touch of his Water Tribe attire. Toph allowed herself to smile a little bit, no matter how much pain she was feeling at the moment, at the idea of Sokka having stayed at her side all night.

"As strange as it sounds," Toph whispered. "I still liked it when I fell into your arms and not anyone else's."

The brief period of joy passed, and Toph looked towards the window, where the sun was growing warmer.

"Given what happened last night," Toph said aloud. "I'm surprised I even made it to this next morning."

The statement reminded her of everything. The fight that she had with the skilled assassins in the tunnel along with her frustrations at Sokka and Fei. Toph kept her hand on Sokka's hair as she thought, slowly scratching and rubbing at the soft wolf tail so characteristic of Sokka.

There was a thought in Toph's mind that she just couldn't get rid of, and her near death experience the night before only reinforced those thoughts.

"I wonder if-" Toph started.

A slight groan could be heard to Toph's left, and the pile of hair shook as Sokka awoke. Sokka rubbed his eyes for a moment and stretched his arms to the sky. He yawned loudly and clucked his mouth afterwards. He put his hand over stomach as it grumbled.

Then he looked at Toph, and Toph didn't need her vision to know that his mouth was open.

"Good morning Sokka," Toph's voice was still weak, but she smiled wickedly nonetheless with her next statement.

"Now are you going to gape at me, or are we going to get some good ol' payback?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far? I'm glad if you guys are enjoyed with the story, and I hope people who have issues with it bring it to me! I'm always looking for ways to improve.

With that being said, read and review!


	9. The Festival and the Music Princess

**A/N: **Sorry this is a little bit late, but I've been having some issues and it's been hard overcoming writer's block. Nonetheless, here we go.

* * *

><p><strong>9. The Festival and the Music Princess<strong>

They spent the rest of the week recuperating. Toph's injuries, while relatively minor considering how serious they could have been, still kept her from moving around too much. She had complained, but only for a little while, because as rebellious as she was, the wounds she received were no laughing matter. As if to compensate, Toph forced Sokka and Fei to abandon any attempts at bringing her food and water. She would do these things herself, she told them, and it would be embarrassing otherwise.

In the meanwhile, the three of them convened, along with Saya, to prepare their next moves, starting with Toph's assassins.

"No doubt that they're also the ones that killed Li Han," Sokka ushered the name quickly, feeling a slight uncomfortable shake from the innkeeper next to him. "Toph, did you manage to get a good look at them? I mean…a good feel at them?"

"Nice save there," Toph grinned, before unconsciously reaching for her shoulder. "Well, the good news is that the four of them couldn't kill me. They only really got me because holding each of them off with my Earthbending was pretty difficult. They have a Firebender, two Earthbenders, and a woman who's pretty good with swords."

"Have we met them before?" Sokka asked. Toph was a master of memory. She never forgot a voice, and the footsteps that she felt from other people became etched in her memory as if each individual footstep was a face. "Maybe they're rebels that we've fought before, or even someone during the war."

"No," Toph shook her head. "The Firebender and the sword lady are both new people, though as skilled as they are, I'm surprised we didn't meet them sooner. The two Earthbenders though are wearing Dai Li agent clothes, but considering that Aang rebranded the Dai Li, I'm going to say that these two are ex-Dai Li. Those two are the ones I'm most worried about."

"If Sifu is worried about two Earthbenders," Fei's forehead creased. "Then they must be really good."

"They fight like a good team," Toph explained. "Individually, I could take one of them with maybe a scratch or two at the end. But when they fight together it's as if they empower each other to a whole new level of Earthbending. Or maybe it's because you can do more with earth when you have two instead of one. Or it could just be that I was too distracted by the sword lady to really notice that they weren't that good."

"We should stick together from now on," Sokka decided with a firm nod at himself. "It was a mistake for me to think that we could each go off on our own when there are skilled fighters after our throats here in the city."

"Considering that we're not getting much information going about on our own anyway," Toph leaned back in her seat, her face bearing a slight look of disappointment. "I guess we don't have much a choice, or did you learn something valuable Sokka? Fei?"

Fei brought forth a few newspapers and all of his circled information. "Saya and I found a good amount of information about the plan that Si Wang was conducting to rebuild the city's sewer system," he said. "It seems there was a lot more disagreement than we thought."

"I read that too," Sokka pulled a few of the papers towards him. "Si Wang was writing a lot of letters to the public works director. His name was Chang or something, but it looked like Si Wang was asking him to reconsider the plan multiple times. I'm not exactly sure why there are so many disagreements."

"Publically," Saya recalled, marching to the kitchen as the tea kettle began screaming. "Chang did say that the sewer system was fine and there was no need to refurbish it. Of course, everyone knew that was a total lie, but we didn't think too much of it at the time. We just assumed that the government was saving face because it was out of money."

"You see, that's the problem!" Sokka almost jumped out of his seat in frustration. "Si Wang's records specifically showed that the government was swimming in gold pieces. Why would everyone just pretend that the money is gone? It has to be somewhere."

"Or," Toph suggested. "It was already spent, and Si Wang miscalculated."

"What makes you think that?" Sokka turned to Toph, who's thoughtful eyes stared blankly back at him.

"When I was given my Earthbending school by my parents at the end of the war," Toph explained. "My father taught me a little bit about money. I guess at the time he thought that giving me a school was an exchange for me taking over the family business someday with a rich husband. It didn't work out that way, but I still remember a little bit about what he taught me."

"Well, when you're counting money," Toph turned her head sideways and scratched her head a bit to help her remember. "You basically have three categories. There are the things you own. There are the things you owe, and then there's the amount of money you made, after you count out all the expenses too."

"Now, when you do these calculations," Sokka could tell that Toph was getting tired and bored already from explaining it. It was a miracle that she had stayed awake while listening to her father tell all of this to her. "You basically just count for things that you know have happened. So for example, Xuang Chang buys a new government office, then you would just subtract the amount of money the government has and record the new office."

"So how does this relate to the records," Sokka asked.

"I'm getting there. I know it's boring, but if I could sit through it, so can you," Toph growled. "As I was saying, the issue with accounting this way is that it obviously relies on trust. You record everything that's been given to you, and that's that. Most people will give you everything because it's in their best interests. But in this case, there's a possibility that there were a few things going on that Si Wang didn't know about."

"Like?" Saya asked dubiously. "The man was a control freak when it came to money. Not a single gold piece left under his nose."

"When I was exploring the tunnels yesterday before I was attacked," Toph replied. "I found that there's a set of tunnels near the edge of the town that are completely new. They're different from the smelly and crusty bricks that are underneath the city. I don't know what it is, but I don't think its purpose was to transport sewer water. I'm going to assume that since Si Wang never got his new pet sewer project passed, someone else jumped the gun."

"Can you show me how large this tunnel system is?" Saya pointed at the earth wall besides her. "Go ahead and break the wall if you'd like. I can always find a replacement later."

Toph obliged and flicked her wrist in the direction of the wall. There was a slight boom and dust burst from the wall. After it had cleared, a large network of tunnels just outside of the city could be seen etched onto the wall. The diagram was detailed, filling in on every nuance of the tunnels, including width and sharpness of corners. There were sections on the edge of the grid that looked incomplete.

"The tunnels run for miles in the direction of Republic City," Toph explained. "With my sight, that's as far as I could go before I decided to head back, but we can assume that the tunnels probably do reach the underground portion of Republic City."

"A tunnel that size must cost a fortune," Saya gasped. "There's no way that Si Wang would miss something that large."

"He might not," Toph shrugged. "If the money never moved hands."

"So you mean," Sokka was starting to catch on. "That it's the government that paid for it, and the government that got paid for building it?"

"Not necessarily," Toph pointed to the map again. "Usually when you're recording your business, you don't really put it on the records unless someone has performed. In this case, the city could have easily just considered this project a handshake, and it wouldn't even have to be recorded. The money could have all been preplanned and given out upon a certain incident."

"Si Wang's death," Saya uttered from her lips.

Toph nodded. "The question that needs answering then," Toph pointed at the network. "Is what the point of that entire thing is. Why build a massive tunnel with intricate networks and dead ends. There has to be a meaning to it. I think finding that out will take us to the one that's started this entire thing, and it'll answer all the questions we have about this rebellion on our hands."

"Wow," Sokka mouthed. "That is a lot to take in one sitting. That's some stellar thinking there Toph. I didn't know you had it in you."

"I don't," Toph admitted. "But these were pretty easy after hearing what you guys have been telling me. I would've thought you would have caught onto this sooner instead of waiting for me to come up with an explanation. You're slower than I thought you were Sokka."

She had meant for it to hurt, and Sokka felt it.

"With that being said," Toph said before Sokka even had a chance to respond. "We need to come up with our next course of action. I'm leaving this one up to you Sokka."

Toph sat up from her seat, rolled her neck, and pressed an arm against her shoulder to comfort a slight pinch of pain. She walked upstairs, and it wasn't until Sokka heard the sound of the door shut that he took a deep breath and sighed.

"Sifu is frustrated at you it seems," Fei scratched his head. "But for what, I'm not exactly sure."

"You know what Fei?" Sokka allowed himself a weak smile. "I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea either. But we can do something about that another time. We should start planning out our next moves."

Saya brought three cups of tea to the table, and Sokka allowed himself to collect everything that they had been talking about. It sounded wild, with so many pieces coalescing together to form a truth just outside of Sokka's grasp. It was hard to even start piecing together how they were going to move on. Where would they start? Knock on the government's door and demand answers? Inspect the tunnel and see where it truly leads? They could even continue deeper into the Si Wang murder and find the perpetrators and ask them.

Sokka scratched his head for a while, Toph's last words still sinking in. As much as he wanted to deny it, Toph was right. He was slow, his thought processes leaps and bounds behind his prime. What had changed about him, Sokka wondered. There was tentativeness in his step, reluctance in his thoughts to believe, a finality that was missing in his decisions. It might have even frustrated himself, Sokka realized.

"I heard there was supposedly a music festival that's supposed to go on sometime in the near future?" Sokka asked, shaking his head to clear himself of those thoughts. "The governor made it sound like it was a pretty big deal."

"They hold it every year," Saya's eyes brightened. "It's probably one of the most colorful nights in the city. The music they play is always beautiful and stunning. When we were both younger Li Han would often take me there just to teach me how to dance. I was never the dancer."

"Do you think that whoever is leading this rebellion might want to disrupt the festival?" Sokka inquired.

"Of course," Saya nodded her head. "Government officials are always there enjoying the activities themselves. It would be a great time to showcase their power and strength."

"Then that's our first next step then," Sokka stood up, clenching his fists. He grinned and allowed himself a joke. He flung a hand outward before shouting.

"Ladies and gentlemen. To the music festival!"

* * *

><p>After Sokka had decided, they had spent the remainder of the week preparing for their encounter at the festival. Sokka polished up a few of his weapons, making sure that his fans and blade were as sharp as he could make them. Fei practiced a few Earthbending stances on his own time, often requesting a little aid from Toph, who offered more criticisms than advice. Even Saya spent her time outside of the inn to gather information for them. Or at least that's what Sokka thought she was doing.<p>

Toph, however, was the one who prepared the most. Though she was injured, even in the early mornings, Sokka would awake to the rustle of leaves and bushes outside. When he peered over the balcony on the second floor of the inn, he would spot the grown Blind Bandit swinging punches and kicking around in long arcs. Fifteen years ago, Sokka would have never imagined Toph getting accustomed to hand and hand combat with her small figure. But time had passed, and Toph had grown taller and more agile. She must have been feeling the shame of being injured by the sword lady that she often referred to.

Whenever Toph felt Sokka's presence on the balcony above her, she often motioned for him to come downstairs to practice with her. It was a sweaty affair, and Sokka was quite surprised at how deft Toph had gotten at maneuvering in close quarters. She would often ask him to use his fans, and after a few rounds, Sokka could really tell that Toph had put a lot of thought into forming her Earthbending style around a more intimate style.

That particular morning, the morning of the festival, Toph had asked Sokka to throw whatever he could at her, and Sokka hesitantly obliged.

"Come at me with the intent to kill," Toph had said. She exhaled deeply, rotating her shoulders and hopped around to test out her injuries. Afterwards, she waved at Sokka to engage.

Sokka dived forward, crouched forward with his fans unfolded behind him. When he drew close, Toph threw up a small wall of earth to block the charge. As he often did when meeting this response, Sokka gripped the edge of the wall and swung around. Face to face with Toph, Sokka lashed out with the fan in his right hand, but before he could get close to her face, a thin column of earth with the same width of a spear shot out from the ground and collided with Sokka's right forearm.

Not even concerned about the pain, Sokka jumped back to collect himself. The surprise had thrown his stance out of form, so once Sokka had regained his balance, he charged right back in. This time, when Sokka prepared a swing, another wall came up in front of him. But before Sokka could grip his hands around the wall, a hand came blasting out of it, clipping Sokka in the chin. As he backed off, Toph came rushing from cover, the pole she had bended out of the ground in her hands.

Toph thrust the pole towards Sokka stomach, and the warrior parried this easily with a swipe from his left hand. Toph twirled and swung the pole around for another attack at Sokka's right side. Sokka block this too, and he immediately rushed in to attack as the pole swung back at Sokka's parry.

The pole that Toph was using then split into multiple pieces and surrounded Sokka in a ring of projectiles reminiscent of nunchaku sticks. With a single motion, Sokka was hit from all sides, and he fell to the ground.

"I can't touch you," Sokka breathed heavily after the spar. He stayed lying on the ground, panting. "The way you're using the earth is a lot different than what you used to do."

"It's a new style I developed when I was teaching metalbenders back in the day," Toph explained, rubbing her fists. "The style was more of an afterthought to a particular student of mine than something I actually intended on using though. After what happened a few nights ago, I thought I'd try it out."

"It's good," Sokka admitted. "Did you teach this to Fei?"

"No," Toph shook her head. "Fei became my student a few years after Ba Sing Se. The student I was teaching back then…well I haven't seen him in a while."

Toph said it in a prideful and nostalgic tone. There were a variety of emotions floating around those words, and Sokka couldn't shake off a feeling that he should really be pressing further into the subject. Instead, he chose not to.

"Well," Sokka picked himself up. "This is good, and I'm surprised by it. I've been keeping up with the art of the Kyoshi warriors for the last few years, so I'm even in shape to fight."

"Let's hope our sword lady says the same thing if I face her again," Toph replied.

The morning came and went. Saya woke an hour after the spar and treated them to a nicer than normal breakfast, cooked with some of her healing herbs and calming teas. She told them that it would help Toph relieving any lingering pains from her wounds and calm them down on the eve of battle. After the meal, she proceeded to drag Toph upstairs to get rid of her sweaty clothes. When they came down, both Saya and Toph were dressed in beautiful jade kimonos with golden sashes.

"You look great Sifu!" Fei exclaimed.

"I've kept the dress nice and tight, cut off some parts that might've been too loose," Saya explained. "I know you guys might be fighting, but it's a music festival. I thought you ought to enjoy yourselves if possible."

Toph nodded at Fei's compliment, then turned to Sokka. For a moment, the two merely stared at each other. It had been a while since Sokka had seen Toph wear a dress. Before, Toph's appearance seemed rather childish, her luxurious attire offset by her ridiculous acts and pranks. This time, Toph's older appearance and the tightness of her robe brought out everything that was woman about her.

"You look," Sokka fished around for the right word. "Like you're about to rock the party."

Toph coughed at the remark, and her little chuckle afterwards told Sokka that he had succeeded.

"That was pretty good," Toph laughed. "I was wondering where all the jokes went. Now I feel a lot better. Let's go."

The festival was held in the business district of Xuang Chang. Stores opened wide their doors, restaurants held special discounts and made new never before seen dishes, and, of course, musicians populated the streets, symphonies of music spread across the city. There was a group of travelling nomads playing with their strings and small drums. An old man blasted a modestly sized tsungi horn on the corner of a street, where a few other old men laughed and drank tea as they listened.

"These are only some of the smaller events," Saya pressed them forward. "Some of the livelier performances are in the middle. The grand performance will be at the far end of the district. Now hurry and let's get a move on!"

When they reached the middle of the business sector, they entered a large open square. On the edges, owners of food stands sold hot freshly grilled meat. If Sokka had more money, he would have considered buying enough to feed both himself and Appa. In the middle there were a few elevated platforms, where a band was playing a catchy tune, composed of their flutes, drums, and pipas. An erhu was included in the mix too, which turned the song into a cross between ancient and modern musical compositions.

The tune was fast paced, almost rushed but controlled by the steady beating of the drums. All around the stage, people were dancing about, some of them dancing in small groups, others figuring out things for the first time. There were even a few kids, the boys and girls separated on two sides of the stage that gave the other occasional glances.

"Now this is some nostalgia," Saya sighed dreamily. "This is why I stayed in this city. Come on, Fei, let me show you how it's done!"

Saya pulled Toph's student by the arm towards the other edge of the stage. Fei didn't even have time to react. As she passed by Sokka on her way to the dance floor, Sokka could hear the slight whisper of "good luck" as the woman flung Fei onto the dance floor and started pointing at his feet.

"For the record," Toph folded her arms. "I heard that, and no, I'm not going to do it."

"What?" Sokka replied, flustered. "I haven't even said anything yet."

"I mean for starters," Toph seemed to go off in her own world for a moment. "I don't even know if I could in this dress. And secondly, I don't think I've showered properly from this morning's spar, and you probably haven't either. Most importantly, I'm not even sure if…"

"Toph, relax," Sokka put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from trailing off too much. "Just calm down, because I have no idea what you're talking about right now."

"Weren't you going to ask me to dance?" Toph looked taken aback, a mixture of disappointment and relief spelled across her face.

"No," Sokka shook his head, but then thought about what Toph just for a second longer. "Though I guess with all this stress that we've been going through, it'd be nice to at least give it a try. At least it sounds like fun. Come on, let's try it."

Sokka grabbed ahold of Toph's arm.

"Sokka, wait," Toph hissed as she was dragged closer and closer to the dance floor. "I'm injured."

"That didn't stop you from brutally knocking me down," Sokka quipped. "Come on. Don't worry about it. Just treat it like another spar, except without the you punching me in the face thing."

"I only know the classical dance forms for all those high class Earth Kingdom parties," Toph complained. "And those require absolutely no effort at all because the man's always leading. Why do you think I never danced when Aang held that party for Fire Nation brats?"

"Don't worry," Sokka shrugged. "I don't know what I'm doing either, but I think with all this talk of rebels and death, it might do our nerves some good."

In the corner of his eye, Sokka spotted Fei nervously holding onto Saya's hands. Saya twirled around him in swift procession, her body moving along with the wind. For a lady that was slightly older than Toph, Saya looked just as agile, if not more agile, than the most trained Kyoshi warriors. As he turned back to Toph, he could see rosy red colors forming on her cheeks, the quick breaths she was taking, and a slight shaking of her knees and shoulders.

"Sokka," Toph growled. "I swear if I hear a single person laughing, it'll be your feet that pay for it."

"Don't worry about them," Sokka grinned. "Right now, just keep your attention on me. Treat it like a spar."

The music started to change. The flutes, which had taken a dominant role in the first progression of the song, now shifted to the background. The plucked instruments like the pipa started to take a stronger role, and the erhu began a crescendo that was topped with a sustained vibrato. The drums grew louder, and the only way that Sokka could describe the song was that it was a song fit for a majestic battle between two powerful animals.

_A wolf and a badgermole perhaps?_

They started. Their dance appeared like a combination of different moves that they had formed and used when they had been fighting and practicing together. Toph was more rigid, partly because Earthbending forms were more firm and unchanging, and partly because she was still nervous. Sokka was more fluid, dancing around her as Toph parried each attempt to draw close. To the observers, it looked like an ancient wooing ritual, with the man approaching the girl from different angles only to be rejected each time by the stubborn woman.

Halfway through, as the sound of the stringed instruments intensified and the drums could grow no louder, their roles reversed. Toph seized onto Sokka arm and then spun behind, and she became a flurry of different hand motions that must have been Earthbending forms. Sokka tried keeping up, but she was much too fast. It was as if the stubborn woman had finally opened up, showcasing her strength and power, telling the man that if he was to be with her, he had to match her level of intensity.

Sokka complied. The Kyoshi warriors had practice regiments where they also learned a variety of different stances and forms, and Sokka now took advantage of that. Each one of Toph's stances was mirrored by a one of Sokka's own, and strangely enough they often seemed to align in perfect harmony, whether it have been the symmetry of their stances or how nicely their bodies matched up when they stood aside each other.

By the time the song had ended, both Sokka and Toph stopped, looked at each other, and then laughed at each other for how silly the other looked.

"Those were some nice moves for a peacock, Sokka," Toph snorted.

"Says the girl who stood still for the first half," Sokka teased.

"It was fun," Toph gave Sokka a hard punch. "So that's a little thank you."

They found Fei and Saya after that. Saya smiled cheerfully at them as she signaled them to move on to the grand performance. Fei looked absolutely exhausted, his movements sluggish and mouth wide open.

"Remind me," Fei tapped Sokka on the shoulder as they followed the happy innkeeper. "To tell you next time never to leave me alone with that woman. I don't know how old she is, but the way she moves is not something a normal lady can do."

"But it was fun, right?" Sokka chuckled at the panting student. "At least you learned something."

"I've always liked music," Fei nodded. "My mother, before she died anyway, was a master of the yueqin. You know, one of those zithers with lots of strings. She taught me a lot about them before she passed away, so I've grown to appreciate the art a lot. You can probably even say I'm pretty well versed in the yueqin."

At the far end of the business district, a large outdoor theatre was on display. Government officials, businessmen, and regular folk lined the seats outside. There was much chattering going on, and the stage was set by nothing other than a yueqin. The instrument stood in the middle of the stage, and Fei instantly told them that he wanted to get front row seats to see what was going on. Luckily for them, Saya had already secured a few seats in the second and third rows.

"You have to get here early," Saya explained. "This is where they bring the most talented musicians to play. As you can see, some of our most well known government officials have come to listen. There's Liang Mian, the governor as you know, and his bodyguard Bao Lu. There's Wei Jin, the public relations officer. Oh, and of course, the person you've been reading so much about, it's Chang, the public works director."

Chang appeared a stout man with a very full laugh. He sat in the first row to the far left. To Sokka, the man didn't appear like a conspiring fellow.

"Maybe we should ask him some questions," Fei suggested. "I mean, we've been reading so much about him and his connections with Si Wang. It'd be nice to see if he knew anything."

"Oh, it's alright," Saya gazed at the curtains behind the yueqin. "The show is about to start anyway, so we can just ask him afterwards."

"Ladies and gentleman!" the announcer cried out to the crowd. "Welcome to Xuang Chang's annual music festival, where we bring you some of the best musicians in the world to perform. Today, we've brought forth a special guest, a master of the yueqin, one of the most expensive and expressive instruments today. She's travelled far, from the other side of the Earth Kingdom, just to come and perform. I would like everyone to join me in welcoming, Sui Dao!"

"Can't even see a thing on stage," Toph grumbled. "The whole thing must be made of wood. Well, it's not like I'll need to see someone to listen to them anyway."

Toph leaned back, the curtains opened, and the woman known as Sui Dao stepped onto the stage.

Her hair was short; it only fell down to her shoulders. She was wearing very modest clothes, a grey robe that was not too tight to allow for flexibility and not too loose to allow for control. She bowed to the rest of the crowd, who clapped for her, before sitting down in front of her instrument. Besides Sokka, Fei's eyes beamed as he awaited what kind of song this new girl was going to play.

The first note was played, and a stunning melody followed. Her hands moved rapidly across the string as the opening washed over the crowd as quickly as a tsunami. As the beginning subsided, Sui's hands grew more gentle, no longer pressing down firmly on the strings, but instead gently tapping them, stroking them, to create a piece gentle but melancholy.

"She is amazing," Fei acknowledged, but all the while he frowned. "It's too bad that her skill is limited by her instrument."

"What do you mean?" Sokka turned to Fei, who shook his head sadly. "What's wrong with her instrument?"

"The music is beautiful, the melodies and harmonies perfectly in sync and powerful," Fei whispered back. "But the tone of the instrument, the sound that it makes. Something is off about it."

"You mean like it's broken?" Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Why would they bring a broken instrument to a concert for someone as good as her?"

"Not necessarily broken," Fei replied. "Perhaps it's been tampered with in some way."

The sun shined overhead as the late morning grew into the early afternoon. As it reached its full midway point in the sky, Sokka put his hand over his forehead cover his eyes from the overbearing sun. It was then that he noticed a small gleam, a reflection from the instrument Sui Dao was playing. At first, Sokka thought of it only as a piece of metal that was part of the instrument.

"Are yueqins ever made of metal?" Sokka asked.

"No," Fei laughed. "Yueqins are made of one hundred percent authentic wood."

So Sokka looked closer, squinting at the instrument as Sui Dao's song grew sadder and sadder with each passing note. Sokka put his hand down, and then put it back up, hoping that the same process would let him see that reflection he had seen earlier. The song sped up, and Sui Dao began playing what appeared to be the final movement in the song.

This time he saw it clearly. A near invisible thread was inserted into the instrument itself, and from what Fei was saying, must have been tampering with some of the other strings in the instrument. That same thread ran down into the audience, where Sokka lost sight of it around the far left side of the front row. The song grew louder and louder.

Sokka didn't need to know anything else to know that something big was about to happen. He needed to do something, and there was no time to give explanations to either Toph or Fei. The song was now in its final measures.

Sokka stood up.

The song ended.

Someone told Sokka to sit down.

Sui Dao pressed her hand over the strings, before tearing them off. The audience gasped in surprise as the instrument made a deep groan as the strings sounded their last notes. The woman smiled and tugged hard on the strings.

The chair underneath Chang, the public works director, exploded, and the entire left side of the audience went up in a raging inferno.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So some questions have been answered, some new ones have surfaced. I wonder where you guys think this is going?

Thanks for reading!


	10. Sword, Fan, and Spear

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who's been reading and responding so far. I really appreciate it.

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><p><strong>10. Sword, Fan, and Spear<strong>

Sokka was only paralyzed for a second.

The explosion underneath Chang's chair ballooned into the air, creating a small mushroom cloud of dark smoke. Small bits of debris blew past them, and the smell of burning flesh was once again in the air. Sokka turned to Fei, who had already prepared for this by wrapping his waist sash over his face. Around the fire, people screamed as they ran in every direction, some of them coming out of the blaze, their luxurious clothes burning hot and black, their faces obscured by the fire consuming their skin.

Guards around the site quickly rushed to drag the wounded away from the flaming rubble. They shouted at the participants to leave as quickly as possible, before calling for a line to be formed towards the nearest sewage pipe. Government officials, wide eyed and terrified, rushed among the regular denizens, hoping to hide themselves from any other lingering assassins.

Sui Dao, who still stood on the wooden platform, stared down at the inferno, her lips curved in a satisfied smile. She seemed intent on not running, because even when the guards sent a pack of men rushing at her, swords drawn, she faced them head on, her broken yueqin in her hands.

The guards came in striking distance, and the girl onstage broke her instrument in two. The men leapt back in surprise as bits of wood and dust sprayed from the innards of the wooden zither. From the small slots inside the device, Sui Dao drew two sickles and immediately charged headfirst into the guards. She moved too quickly, and before Sokka could blink, the three guards sent to dispatch her were already on the floor, blood foaming at their mouths and wounds covering their bodies.

"That has to be her," Sokka whispered. "The sword lady that Toph was talking about."

Upon hearing the name, Toph bent her knees and punched the ground with her fists, sending a massive tremor that smashed the stage that Sui Dao was standing on. The wooden buttresses collapsed, and Sui Dao gracefully twirled off, landing in front of Sokka, Fei, and Toph. When she laid her eyes on Toph, the woman's eyes narrowed.

"You're lucky you survived," Sui Dao said, raising her sickles. "I'm going to make sure I finish the job today."

"You'll have to get past me first," Sokka stood in front of Toph, pulling out his fans.

"A warrior who fights with the fans of Kyoshi warriors?" Sui Dao recognized the metal designs. "You must be the infamous strategist, Sokka. An excellent swordsman I am told by the stories. Trained under the legendary Piandao. To think you would stoop to the level of fans is beyond my comprehension."

"Why don't you try them out," Sokka unfolded the fans.

"Sokka, what are you doing," Toph whispered. "We can take her together."

"She's fast and a fight with her might be overexerting. I don't want to risk you reopening your wounds after only a week of healing," Sokka said, slowly pushing Toph back with his right hand. "Let me handle this. If the worst should happen, there are guards everywhere, not to mention that you and Fei can always support me from behind if something goes wrong. Have a little faith in me."

"She's dangerous," Toph warned. "I don't even know if you can take her in a one on one."

"Yeah, just from looking at her, I know she's good," Sokka admitted. "But this is exactly the sort of challenge that I've been training for. You're in no condition to fight someone like this Toph, and you know it."

It was only then that Toph backed down, her hand holding her stomach cautiously. Then, to Sokka's surprise, Sui Dao turned around and fled. She sprinted as fast as she could towards the exit on her left, a narrow corridor that led into a maze like portion of the city. Sokka instinctively pursued, his fans slicing through the air behind him. Toph and Fei soon followed suit.

Sokka picked up his pace and followed his opponent as she rounded a corner into unlit alleyway. At that point, when Toph and Fei attempted to stick close to Sokka, a large explosion rattled the buildings around the alley. Fei looked up and found that the explosions had destroyed the roofs right above them. Pieces of debris and large boulders fell down towards them. To protect both herself and her student, Toph pulled a lump of earth over the two of them. The rubble smashed into Toph's makeshift shield, rolling down and blocking the entrance into the alley.

"Toph Bei Fong!" a voice came from the center plaza where the inferno still raged about. Governor Liang Mian approached, his face filled with sweat. "Oh thank the Spirits you and your student are safe. Our guards are trying to pour water on the fire but the assassins must have rigged their explosive with oil. It won't go out. We're going to need your help."

"Sokka's out there," Toph pulled herself away from the stone wall she had erected. "He's fighting the assassin right now. He needs help!"

"There are other things that you must attend to at the moment," Liang Mian pointed at the fire. The smoke had risen and turned the clouds a greyish hue. The flames started reaching dangerously close to the buildings around the plaza. "Don't worry. He'll be safe. I'll dispatch my bodyguard to aid Sokka. Bao Lu!"

The tall muscular man that Toph had felt the other day quickly arrived at the governor's side. After quick instructions from the official, the bodyguard nodded and took off in the direction that Sokka had been chasing the assassin. Liang Mian then urged Toph to hurry, and seemingly with no other choice, Toph rushed back to the center to start helping the guards with the fire.

"Are there any Earthbenders here?" Toph called out. "That would make my job a lot easier."

"None of the guards are Earthbenders," said the governor. "Let me send my men around to see if we can grab any that are still running through the streets."

"It's a bit late for that," Toph felt the heat of the fire growing closer and closer to her. The entire plaza was aflame, the wooden chairs feeding the blames and the oil underneath sustaining it. "Fei, it's time to put your training to the test."

"Yes, Sifu!" Fei nodded his head and got ready in an Earthbending stance.

"Do as I do Fei," Toph clenched her fists and swung them in an arc. As she did, a rectangular slab of earth swung out of the ground. With another hard swing in the other direction, Toph forced the wall of earth to collapse on a portion of the fire, effectively killing the flames. "Just like that."

Fei bent his knees slowly and copied the form. Like Toph, another rectangular piece of rock, albeit a little bit smaller, emerged from the ground and collapsed onto the flames. Together, they focused on small areas of the fire at a time, flipping over their massive earth tiles and smashing it against the fire. The two moved in sync, hands swirling left and right, legs crossing as they moved from one hot spot to another.

Every time they lifted the rock slates, Fei could see the leftovers of blackened cement and crushed bones and bodies. When he looked over to Toph, her pained scowl told him that she had been seeing the same things. Nevertheless, they continued on, squelching the fire one square at a time until the guards had finally arrived with a more abundant source of water.

By the time the guards had started a line that stretched almost a hundred yards to the nearest sewer grates, Toph and Fei had finished off most of the flames. One by one, the guards poured water over the remainder of the fire with large buckets. After a guard finished throwing his bucket over the fire, he rushed to the back of line to scoop up some more water. Through this process, the rest of the fire was quickly dealt with.

When they were done, Fei sat back exhausted, letting the stone slabs drop to the ground with a giant thud. Meanwhile, Toph surveyed the carnage, and turned back to where she and Sokka had been separated. After inspecting the roofs and the very conveniently timed explosion that had blocked off the corridor, Toph came to a very simple conclusion.

"They intentionally wanted to cut me and Sokka off," Toph cursed. "I knew I should have followed him."

"Didn't the governor send that bodyguard?" Fei panted. "He should be okay, right?"

"Do you really trust the governor after all this time?" Toph narrowed her eyes. "I might have fallen for a very obvious ploy. I'm such an idiot."

"It was in the heat of the moment," Fei rubbed his head. "You were busy protecting me, and then we had to help put out the fire. It's not your fault."

"Something is going on in this city, and for all we learned it's still not enough to uncover the truth," Toph ignored Fei, looking at everyone around her with a dubious eye. "Something big is about to happen, and it's not going to be pleasant. Come on, we need to get moving and find Sokka before something else happens."

"Wait a minute sifu," Fei suddenly realized that they were missing something.

"Where's Saya?"

* * *

><p>Sokka rounded the next corner. Toph and Fei had long stopped been close on his tails, which worried him a little bit. Nonetheless, his opponent raced on ahead, leading Sokka further and further into the maze. Finally, after what appeared to be an endless period of running from corner to corner, Sui Dao turned around and faced him. The sun was now completely obscured by the rooftops, making the black sickles in Sui's hands less visible.<p>

"Well," Sokka prepared his weapons. "You've managed to lure me away all alone by myself. I suspect you're going to ambush me now with the rest of your group?"

"Please," Sui waved him off. "A challenge like this comes once in a life time. I think I'll have some fun."

"Are you part of the rebellion?" Sokka demanded. "If you're so confident that you're going to kill me here, then there's no point in keeping the secrets from me any longer is there?"

"Perhaps not," Sui shrugged. "But I'm not confident that I'm going to kill you now. Because, you see, like your Earthbending friend, I was wounded a week ago by a pretty deep wound to the stomach. Who knows if I'll rip that open in the course of this fight and lose unconsciousness?"

"At least answer me," Sokka took a close look at his surroundings as he asked. "Why did you kill Si Wang? Li Han? Chang? What's the point of killing all of these people? The rebellion is real, and no one is going to deny it. More importantly, why are you doing this?"

"Do you intend to lecture me?" Sui chuckled. "If it at least relieves your suffering a little bit, I'm not doing this to start a rebellion with you, or with the Avatar, or with Republic City for that matter. I just have someone I want to protect. That's all."

"Who said anyone was waging a rebellion with Republic City?" Sokka's eyes widened.

"Oops," Sui crouched low. "Guess I've said too much. Let's just get this started."

His opponent charged, and before Sokka knew it, his opponent was right in front of him. She slashed down with her right sickle, and Sokka barely parried in time with the fan in his left hand. Sokka skidded backwards from the blow, and Sui didn't give him any time to recover. Immediately after she swung down her weapon, she twirled her body in a full circle to bring her leg down on Sokka's head. It was a hard violent kick which Sokka managed to hold off by swinging his fans out to catch her feet.

However, as soon as Sui had landed her kick on Sokka's fans, she twirled in the opposite direction to send another kick flying in from Sokka's right. The attack caught the warrior off guard, and Sokka felt a fierce pain in his stomach as Sui's foot made direct contact with his lower ribs. Sokka flew back into the walls of the alley behind him. The rocky surface hit him like a block of cold ice, and as Sokka shook off the shock, Sui was already dashing in, dropping her sickles in exchange for a pair of weapons sheathed in her robes.

Sokka rolled to the right, just as the woman in front of him brandished a pair of short swords and nearly cut him in two.

"You're not beating me as long as you're using those fans," Sui shook her head in disappointment. "I'm not sure why you're so committed to using them, but it's your death wish."

She then threw one of her swords at Sokka, which twirled high in the air when Sokka deflected it with his fan. As it spun in the air, Sui reengaged, using her one sword to dart in and out of Sokka's range. As the spinning blade dropped back toward the ground, Sui dropped to the floor and propelled her feet into the air to kick the blade towards the Water Tribe warrior. The speed of the blade was too quick for Sokka to dart away in time, so Sokka side stepped the attack, feeling the wind coming from the blade as it just barely missed his neck veins.

Feeling a little more confident now that his opponent was on one sword, Sokka dived in for the offensive. This time, it was Sui that blocked Sokka's incoming strikes. However, unlike Sokka's brute force approach, Sui dodged the attacks effortlessly, spinning around Sokka with effortless grace. Then, when Sokka finally saw a small opening to attack with his other hand, the sword lady flicked her robes and brandished a sai, a dagger shaped metal baton, and struck the fan away. The metal weapon was tossed aside and slid to the other side of the alley.

Turning the fight back in her favor, Sui took step after step, pressing her advantage with her two weapons. Sokka, knowing that he was outclassed, made sure that he stuck to his basics. There was nothing fancy about his movements, but every parry, every potential strike, every move of his feet mattered in some way of keeping himself in the fight for just a few moments longer.

It must have been a stroke of luck, or it might have just been the sweat building on Sui's left hand, but the sai hanging from her left dropped when Sokka put his full strength into knocking it out of her hand. At this point, Sokka knew that he might not have another chance at an attack. Bringing all of his strength to bear he dived forward to her. Sui, knowing that Sokka was coming in for a strike, swung her sword at Sokka's midsection.

The Water Tribe warrior ignored the strike and allowed it to hit him full force. The thickness of his clothes, along with the sword's more blunt edge hitting him rather than its sharpest part cushioned some of the damage and Sokka brought his fan down on Sui's face. Her eyes widened before she was sent flying backwards, her neck already bruised from the blow that Sokka just dealt.

There was a short silence after Sui crashed to the floor. Sokka doubled over and put his hand to the place where Sui had slashed her sword over him. There was some blood, but Sui's mistake of hitting Sokka with the blunt edge of the blade had saved him for now. Still, there was a searing pain in the wound, and the warrior quickly ripped off part of his robes and tied a hard knot around the wound.

"To think that you would openly take a blow like that," Sui coughed, her body too tired to move. "I was mistaken. I should have killed you right there."

"You expected a feint," Sokka predicted. He gasped for breath as the exhaustion of the fight left him worn out too. "So you swung without the intent to kill because it would have been too big of a swing if I changed my attack at the last second. It was a wise move had your opponent been thinking straight."

"Perhaps," Sui spread her arms wide as she faced the sky. "Are you going to kill me now? I suppose that's what they do with traitors of Republic City?"

"Not at all," Sokka shook his head, and Sui seemed to move her head slightly at the answer. The Water Tribesman coughed, tasting copper in his mouth. "I would like to take you in for questioning, find out what's been going on in this city. But it doesn't appear that I'm going to have the strength for it."

"If you let me go now," Sui muttered. "Don't expect me to go spare you your life just because you didn't have the strength to finish me off this time."

"Well," Sokka's breath grew sharper. The blood, as small as it was, wasn't stopping. "I already figured I wasn't going to kill you when you said that you had someone you wanted to protect."

"That's all?" Sui chuckled. "You're a strange person, you know? To think you're trying to end this rebellion without killing someone like me. I hope you know you're digging your own grave for you and everyone else that's working with you."

"I tend to not like finishing businesses of this sort until I hear the full story," Sokka replied. "Someday I hope that I can hear that story from you."

"Not a chance," Sui grinned, looking at the roof above her. Three shadows hopped down, landing besides her. "I'm sorry. I failed again."

"Should we take care of him now?" said one of the three men that had hopped down. Sokka recognized the Dai Li outfit. "It would be troublesome now that he and the Earthbender both are aware of our existence. I think it would be best to kill him now."

"No," Sui shook her head.

"Are you sure, Sui?" said the man at the front. Sokka recognized him as the leader that Toph had referred to. From what Toph had told him, he was the explosive Firebender.

"I don't owe him anything," Sui shrugged. "But he's an interesting man. I think we can let him go today."

The three men looked at each other with caution, before turning their attention back to Sui. For a moment, it appeared that they were about to convince themselves that their companion's change of heart was the result of Sokka smacking her head with his fan. Finally, after almost a full minute waiting for their response, the leader of the group picked up the woman in his arms and walked away. The two ex-Dai Li agents trailed behind him, occasionally looking back at Sokka.

"Now I can kill you without a single regret," was Sui's last words to Sokka before she was carried out of sight.

When Sokka couldn't see them anymore, Sokka closed his eyes. As much as he tried to prevent himself from falling asleep, exhaustion fell over him.

* * *

><p>Bao Lu watched as Sui was carried off by her comrades. He turned back to Sokka now, who soon closed his eyes and began falling asleep due to overexertion. His fingers grabbed his sword hilt, and he leaned over the building to gauge how much strength it would take to hop down the roof to the bottom of the alley.<p>

Before he could jump, however, a sharp object pricked him in the neck. The bodyguard froze.

"Did Liang Mian tell you to kill him?" said the voice behind him. The figure was holding a long spear straight at the bodyguard's neck, staring at Bao Lu with vigilant eyes. Bao Lu took a deep breath and then turned around to meet his assailant. "I'm afraid I can't let that happen."

"The governor's word is final," Bao Lu spoke. His voice was a raspy for having not been used for a long time. "Even if it's something suggested by you, you know that I can't ignore his word."

"His word isn't final Bao," said the cloaked silhouette. "You paid off your debt a long time. It's time that you stop giving yourself to the man's schemes. It's going to destroy you."

"It's a little better deeper than that," Bao took a deep breath. "I don't expect you to understand."

"I think what's happened in the last few days have helped me understand quite a bit," the voice said. "There's still time to help us unveil everything that he's done. I can't act without any evidence. Just give it to me and we can help end this entire thing together."

"No," Bao sighed. "This is how it must be. If this is how all of it ends for me, then this is how it ends. I have already brought myself down this road. There is no turning back now."

"There is if you think there is," the voice attempted to reason with the bodyguard, but it was futile.

"I will spare his life today," Bao said. "But only because you insisted so forcefully. Do not expect me to be so merciful the next time I have the opportunity."

Bao's hands left his swords, and the sharp spear prodding his back seemed to relax.

"By the time that next opportunity comes," the voice said in a determined tone.

"I will use everything in my power to stop you."


	11. Revelations in the Tunnel

**A/N:** Sorry for the pretty late update. I've been caught up in a variety of other things and had a difficult time coming up with how to continue the story from one section to the next arc. Well, now that I've figured it out. Here we go!

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><p><strong>11. Revelations in the Tunnels <strong>

When Sokka awoke, the afternoon had passed. The sun was setting, and Sokka assumed that it had been at least two or three hours since his fight with Sui. He brought his strong hand to a lingering pain in the back his neck, and he blinked back and forth to get rid of the drowsiness from his eyes. When he looked up, Sokka saw the golden silhouette of a woman with brownish hair and ancient armor. She smiled back at him, and leaned down to inspect his hurt body.

"It's been a while hasn't it?" Suki held up one of Sokka's fans, rubbing the dented metal. "These fans are made from valuable metals around Kyoshi Island. I didn't think anyone would be able to bruise it this badly. Whoever you fought must have been good, better than I must have been."

"How did you get here?" Sokka asked. "I thought you were still back at home on Kyoshi Island."

"I follow you wherever you go, and you should know that by now Sokka," Suki looked offended. "Or would you have rather had me stay back at home, sitting back and relaxing while you go out of your way, doing dangerous things like this and getting killed?"

"Last time I checked, it didn't work out too well," Sokka felt more awake now. The pain in his head was receding, and the setting sunlight was no longer irritating his eyes. "So I guess I'll ask this like I always do. Why are you here Suki?"

"I'm here because I love you," Suki frowned. "Isn't that enough?"

"It would be," Sokka closed his eyes, took two full breaths, and exhaled. The wind was getting chillier, and as he exhaled, he imagined the small puffs of his breath fading in the wind. "But as you are now, I'm not sure if I can confirm anything."

Sokka opened his eyes, and Suki was gone. Sokka took another inhale, put a hand to his eyes and smeared the small drops already forming there. As he shook them off, he finally started taking notice of his surroundings. The first obvious thing was that he wasn't dead, which meant that he had at least been spared by Sui and her comrades. The second thing he noticed was that the blood that had been spilling from his left wound had coagulated. When Sokka looked over the torn clothing, he could tell that the cut wasn't all too deep, thanks to the stabbing nature of Sui's sword.

"Those things weren't meant for slicing and cutting," Sokka said to himself thankfully. "If it weren't for that…well I'm not going to think on it for now."

"Sokka!" Came a voice from across the alley. Sokka turned to see Toph running towards him, her face filled with worry and concern. "What happened? I couldn't feel your footsteps so I feared you had been captured. Or worse."

"I'm fine," Sokka smiled, flexing his arms. "Though my body might say differently. Where's Fei? And what about Saya?"

"Fei's helping in clean up," Toph replied. "I had him stay with the rest of the guards when I came out searching for you. Saya's missing. I have no idea where she is. But what about you? What happened? Where's the sword lady?"

"Her friends came in and picked her up after I beat her," Sokka winced as Toph tried lifting his body. "She told them to spare me, for some reason. I've been quietly sleeping in this alley for a bit after that. There's also the urge to use the restroom, but that might have to wait for a while."

Sokka rose, with Toph holding his back and shoulders. As he steadied himself, Sokka stretched his neck and arms once more, and then felt the blood flow back into his legs. He rubbed his head and put his hand to Toph's supporting arms and smiled back at her. Her worried expression, which had stayed etched on her face for the last minute, finally faded away as she gave a weak smile.

"What?" Sokka joked. "It's not like you're the one hurt right?"

"Well," Toph laughed and gave her best friend a solid punch. "At least your brain isn't damaged, right?"

"It's a good thing too," Sokka looked below him. "I think after that, I've figured out what might be going on. It'd be more convenient of Saya was here, because I needed to ask her a favor. But in any case, I just need to inspect one last thing before I think this mystery is clear to me."

"And what's that?" Toph smirked, folding her arms. "Has the great detective, Sokka of the Water Tribe, finally revealed himself?"

"I need you to take me to the tunnels," Sokka ordered. "The one that the now dead public works director Chang was in charge of building."

"What about your wounds?" Toph asked. "I can't see them, but from the way your heart is beating, I know you must've suffered some serious injuries. We need time to recuperate or those assassins will just come and pick us off easily."

"No time for that," Sokka shook his head. "From what that sword lady did today, we can only assume that it's going to get worse if we don't do anything quickly. They're killing public officials one by one, and yet there's no uprising yet. Why is that? That's telling me that there are still a few loose strings to tie up before this rebellion goes public, and I think the tunnel is the key. I want to see those tunnels now. I'll explain once we're inside."

Almost immediately, then, Toph hit the floor with her feet and hands, and Sokka felt himself plunge into the ground. He let out a yell and closed his eyes, but before he could start making any last wishes, he had already landed on a cold concrete floor. When he opened his eyes, the evening sun unveiled the very tunnel that Sokka was so intent on inspecting.

"This thing runs for miles around and out of the city," Toph explained. "If you were going to inspect it, might as well drop you in here now then later."

"Let's go then," Sokka pointed down the long winding hallway. "I'll explain my thoughts on the way. I guess today's a lucky day for me to picking a fight with a skilled swordsmen. That bump to the head did a lot more good for me than bad. I'll have to thank her the next time I see her. And Toph, what are you doing?"

Sokka found that his hand had been linked with Toph's. He could feel callouses on her hands, the product of her most recent training. Toph's face was turned away as she started pulling on Sokka to start walking.

"This is just for assurance purposes," Toph didn't stumble on her words, but Sokka thought she might have if he gripped any tighter. "You're wounded, so I'm doing this to hold you up."

_Doesn't make much sense, Sokka thought, but a warm hand is always nice I guess._

Over the next hour, Toph had directed the two them from the tunnels beneath the back alleys behind the cultural festival all the way to the outskirts of Xuang Chang. The halls of the tunnel seemed to never end, and Sokka could start telling the difference between the new concrete blocks that were used to build the new underground sewer and the old blocks that supported the old tunnels.

"The minute that woman killed Chang," Sokka moved his free hand along the clean blocks. "I kind of figured something out."

"I finally figured out why there were so many discrepancies in the books about how poor Xuang Chang is," Sokka started. "Based on your story I had already been suspecting that this tunnel was the cause, but Chang's death sealed the deal. Everything, the money, the plans for this place, its structure. All of it was lost with his death. That's why there's no record of money getting put anywhere and the records state that Xuang Chang is still rich."

"They killed Chang as a cover up?" Toph asked, her eyebrows raised. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would they kill one of their own?"

"But what if Chang wasn't one of them?" Sokka suggested. "Maybe he was just a man that was forced into serving the needs of the rebellion and got killed in the end for it. It might be true that the rebellion might want to keep such a known public figure, but killing them is better if you're aiming to terrorize people with the threat of rebellion."

"What makes you say that?" Toph asked.

"A lot of the faces at that festival were faces we'd seen before," Sokka explained. "We saw them walking around the government office, and I saw them on the day that you and Fei were busy doing other things. The only person that I didn't see was Chang. My guess is he was a rather shy man, didn't like to be out in the open. So the question becomes, if he's so much of a recluse, what was he doing out in the open? I assume he had something planned."

"Maybe he was trying to reveal the tunnel and its true purpose," Toph thought aloud. "Then the assassins were hired to shut him up because they had learned of this beforehand."

"That's my guess too, and based on this tunnel, I'd say that we might as well be right," Sokka touched the walls of the dark bricks again. "These bricks get newer and newer as we walk this way, which means that the place where we dropped down beneath the festival must have been the starting point for this tunnel. What better way to uncover a scandal than to start at the origins?"

"Under the business district too," Toph nodded. "This also explains why Chang opposed Si Wang's underground sewer system. There was already another one in place, so whoever was designing this place couldn't let the public works director blab it out to everyone. Chang must have been forced into silence until he couldn't take it anymore."

"And who is better known for silencing its own public officials," Sokka said rather loudly, as if proud of his discovery. "Then the government itself?"

"Liang Mian," Toph growled at the name.

"And not only him," Sokka grinned. "I think I've figured out something else. I think Si Wang was involved too in this whole cover up."

"What?" Toph exclaimed. "But he was the one that brought us here in the first place! If he was trying to keep the rebellion a secret, he wouldn't have said anything in the first place."

"A practical conclusion," Sokka put a hand to his chin, rubbing his stubs. "But I'm afraid that assumes that Si Wang was the one that wrote the letter in the first place. I've been thinking about it for a while now Toph, and it all just doesn't make sense to me. This entire mystery would be so much clearer if Si Wang wasn't a good guy. The financial statements, the hired assassins, just the chronological order of things would be so much clearer if I just picture Si Wang as a co-conspirator. His public disagreements with the public works director could have easily been a total farce."

"Well that's nice and all," Toph said. "But we can't just assume these things. Is there any proof?"

"Some," Sokka replied. "The first is the financial statements. I still can't get over the fact that a man who is so in love with math and riddles would so easily make a simple mistake that someone like me, who never really goes through these things in the first place, will see. That's either because he was extremely exhausted one day, or because he did it with the intention that nobody would ever call him out on it. If our theory that Liang Mian and the rest of the government are involved with this rebellion, then that makes perfect sense, because he'd never be accused of any wrongdoing."

"Second," Sokka continued. "The crime scene. There are so many bundled stories about Si Wang's death that at this point it just sounds like the government was in disarray trying to find some kind of story. The official story, as you pointed out, had so many flaws. The window should have open on a hot summer day, so why was it closed and broken? Even if it was closed, what kind of mechanism would be able to shatter a window on the fourth floor, and wouldn't people hear it in advance, which contradicts Liang Mian's secretary story. I have a different theory."

"On who killed Si Wang?" Toph widened her eyes in surprise. "Wow. Let's hear it."

"It was Li Han," Sokka said with finality. "The captain of the police force in Xuang Chang."

"They were best friends though," Toph frowned, her forehead wrinkled.

"So were Avatar Roku and Sozin," Sokka pointed out. "But this time it was different. Li Han probably knew what Si Wang was up to and confronted him about it. In that case, he must have approached him during the night about it to discuss in private. Things might have gotten out of control, and Li Han killed Si Wang knowing that he was involved in everything. Then, in an attempt to escape, he broke the window and covered up the mess by stabbing an arrow in the back of Si Wang's head."

"That sounds pretty farfetched," Toph replied. "If that was really the case then, who sent those letters? If Si Wang was really involved in everything, then why would he send us things?"

"Oh no," Sokka smiled, shaking his head. "Si Wang didn't send those letters. It was Han that did that too. I've thought about it hard for a while, but the name _Si Wang_ doesn't really give that much hint to the code's origins. Sure _Si _is equivalent to four, but if anything that's more of a coincidence, and I suspect Han just used wrote the code in quickly to make it sound genuine."

"That still doesn't make sense though," Toph shook her head. "If all of this was true, then why would Han keep secrets from us? He never revealed to us that he was the killer."

"That wouldn't really make him look trustworthy wouldn't it?" Sokka laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'd immediately tell everyone and it'd become a mess quickly. I'm sure even he didn't have much any information either, so there wasn't any real point in telling us then. Besides, what Han said before he left that day was the reason why I came up with this theory, because his theory on the murder was the exact same conclusion I came up with when I pictured him killing Si Wang."

"So a lot of information was lost with Han," Toph mumbled. "It's a shame that he died too. At this point, we could really use his help."

"Oh, I'm not sure that he's dead yet," Sokka replied. "Han might still be somewhere in the city. I've got another really crazy theory."

"Okay, you've been saying them all afternoon, Sokka," Toph grinned. "Give it to me."

"Not yet," Sokka winked. "I think that theory can wait a bit. I'm a bit tired from all the theory crafting that I've been doing. Besides, I've talked for so long that I haven't even noticed what's been going on in these tunnels. Then again, it's not like anything spectacular has happened or we've discovered anything that useful."

He was right. As Toph searched around with her feet, she found that while they were farther than the last time she had explored the tunnels, all she could feel were more endless tunnels. She started to wonder to herself exactly where this long snake like structure was headed, and where it ended up.

They continued, slowly walking what seemed like endless miles of cold earth, heated only by their joined hands. It must have been night by now, and Fei would be worried about the two of them. Sokka was now silent after blurting out his massive theory, and was intent on focusing on the walls around him. He would occasionally mutter something incoherent, and Toph would barely be able to catch one or two words that came from his mouth.

He was quiet, so quiet that it felt like there was a silent barrier between him and Toph. It felt like Sokka was keeping thoughts to himself, and even though Toph knew very well that Sokka didn't have much to say, there was still a hint of sadness. It wasn't like before, where anything would cause them to run their mouths for hours. Even with their hands linked, Toph couldn't shake off the feeling that Sokka was farther than ever before.

She looked over at Sokka, who while intent on continuing the exploration, seemed to have started limping. It only took a moment for Toph to realize that Sokka's hands were clutched on his left side, holding in what must have a sword wound there. She tightened her grip around Sokka's hand and shook her head.

"Sokka, I know this is important, but you seriously need rest," Toph gripped Sokka firmly, refusing to let him take another step. "Your wound might look healed, but these wounds can easily reopen. Let's just take a short break here. Just ten minutes is fine."

"That's not what you used to be like, Toph," Sokka said. "When you were training Aang or your metalbending students, they always got the end of your boulders when they slacked off. This is not a time to be slacking off now right? Come on. Just a little bit more."

"Then," Toph lifted her hand away from Sokka. "At least talk to me then. If anything it'll keep your mind off of the pain. I don't want you falling unconscious on me."

"Okay," Sokka agreed. "In that case, what do you make of these tunnels? We really haven't seen anything yet, but do you know where they're headed?"

"Based on the maps that you drew for me in the ground," Toph pointed to her right. "There are tunnels heading south and east. I can't say for certain, but they head off in the direction of the remainder of the Fire Nation colonies and Republic City. Now that you mention it though, during that Harmony Restoration Movement, wasn't there that whole debate over the Fire Nation colonies, what nation they belonged to, and how exactly to deal with all the colonists?"

"You're right," Sokka replied. "I almost forgot about that. But now that you mention it, do you think the rebellion could have to do with that?"

"With the Harmony Restoration Movement?" Toph asked, surprised. "That's old news though. We ended that conflict a decade ago in Ba Sing Se, and then all of that happened. If anything, it's been people like you and I that have been affected a bit more. We've appeased most of the Fire Nation colonies by now."

"But Aang just recently started on this Republic City idea," Sokka argued. "Wouldn't there obviously be people upset with the idea, especially since they're the ones getting their land taken away? And let's not forget, Republic City is going to have its own government. There aren't any fill in spots for the governors of the colonies once Republic City settles in."

"That does sound possible," Toph found herself agreeing. "In that case then, the rebellion wouldn't just be restricted in Xuang Chang then. It'd incorporate every Fire Nation colony that isn't happy with getting their colonies overtaken by some Avatar's dreams."

It was almost as if a light turned on in both their heads at the same time.

"That's why the rebellion hasn't taken hold in Xuang Chang yet," Toph realized. "It's because they don't intend on starting it there. The real fight will start where this tunnel ends, in Republic City."

"In that case, it's not a rebellion to take over the Fire Nation colonies," Sokka added on. "It's a rebellion made up of the Fire Nation colonies to take over Republic City."

"The tunnels then," Toph took a look at the vast space and width of the hallway. "It's enough to fit a sizable army. Possibly the size of…"

"Every able bodied soldier in the colonies?" Sokka suggested.

"Sounds about right," Toph's expression was grim. "The only question now, is how do we stop the rebellion? We need to send a message to Aang, but there's nothing stopping Liang Mian, or any of the other colonies to start marching their armies now to take Republic City by surprise."

"Maybe I can help with that," said a familiar voice from the tunnel ceiling. A dark shadow dropped down. When the lamps on the walls lit his face, Toph could only widen her eyes in surprise while Sokka nodded his head, a grin smeared across his face. "Here, I was, stuck in this dumb tunnel for the last few days with nothing to eat but those dumb crocodiles that I had to wrestle to death and infested waters that I had boil the spirits out of until I could drink. Maybe I really am dead."

"Those were some nice deductions, Sokka of the Water Tribe," said the man as he turned to face them. Toph couldn't tell from his footsteps, but his voice was unmistakable. "You've definitely changed in the short time that you've been here to the city."

Li Han pointed at himself, standing proud and confident, and his entire body unscathed.

"Let me take it over from here."

* * *

><p>Fei was worried. His sifu had been searching for Sokka all night and she had not returned. She had ordered Fei to stay in the plaza to help with the injured and the entire mess from that afternoon, but each passing minute only intensified his concerns.<p>

"Sifu's always telling me to stay out of trouble," Fei frowned. "But she gets into it all the time. What am I going to do if something happens to her? She's taught me everything that I know, and there still feels like there are things that I'm missing. I can't even metalbend yet."

The student sighed, tossing aside the broom he had been using to clear away some of the debris. Most of the volunteers had already cleaned up their appointed sections and had been instructed by the guards to leave for the night. Fei had met some of them. They were all still cheerful despite what could only be described as a catastrophe, though Fei could tell that those who lost loved ones in the massive explosion were only putting on a face.

"I hope Sokka and sifu solve this soon," Fei hoped. "If this gets any worse, there might be more than just a rebellion on our hands."

"Fei! Fei!" said a voice that Fei recognized as Saya's. He turned around to see her running towards him.

"Saya," Fei called back as she approached. "What are you doing here? Toph and I looked all over for you before we –"

The woman grabbed onto Fei's arms and began sprinting toward the nearest alley. Immediately, Fei turned around to keep up with Saya's abnormally quick pace.

"We need to get out of here," Saya said back to him as she ran.

"What about Toph and –" Fei began.

"They're fine," Saya reassured. "As of now there are other things you and I need attend to. I hope the Earthbending lessons that the great Toph Bei Fong gives out to her students isn't just mere talk. I'm expecting you to be on your toes, Fei. I'm going to need you."

"What's going on?" said Fei confused. "Where have you even been?"

"The rebellion is starting soon," said Saya. "And there is a role that you and I need to play before this is all over. Now enough questions. I'll explain when we're at our destination."

The two of them ran, hidden by the shadows of the dark alleyways of Xuang Chang. Around them, Fei could hear voices and yells, guards who seemed to be searching for someone. He couldn't hear any names, but their voices only made him run faster.

"This is going to be a long night," Saya said.

"I hope you've pulled an all nighter before."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Things are revealed, and only a few mysteries are remaining. They'll be answered soon. Thanks for reading, and review if you have anything you'd like to comment on!


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